


Rockstar Pastry Chef

by NaughtyPastryChef



Category: CW Network RPF, Supernatural RPF
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe - Food Service, Bottom Jensen, Dirty Talk, Fluff, Loss of Virginity, M/M, Shmoop, Top Jared, brief mention of misha/danneel, brief mention of misha/jensen, inexperienced jared, sex negotiations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-13
Updated: 2016-06-13
Packaged: 2018-07-14 17:46:37
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 23,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7183940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NaughtyPastryChef/pseuds/NaughtyPastryChef
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eighteen-year-old Jared Padalecki has wanted to be a pastry chef since he was a little kid. When he was a teenager, he fell in love with Jensen Ackles, a shy, talented, tattooed Food Network pastry chef. His friend finds out that Jensen is running a TV competition, Tough Cookie, to find himself an intern for a one year contract and signs him up. Competition is fierce -- but the sexual tension between them turns out to be even fiercer. Can Jared win both the show and Jensen's heart?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rockstar Pastry Chef

**Author's Note:**

> Oh god, I don't even know where to start. I've been working on this story for ages and ages and if it weren't for Paula and Angie and Cassie and Fancy it never would have gotten finished. I love you all so much and I can't thank you enough for putting up with me. You all rock my socks and I'm in your debt.  
> Betaed by the INCOMPARABLE supernaturalmystery306, without whom this would barely even be English, bless her.  
> Art by the amazing tebtosca and,like, the level of fangirling that happened at my house when I found out about that, WHOOOO. She rocks too, OH GOD.

 

[Amazing Art Masterpost](http://tebtosca.livejournal.com/188444.html)

 

Jared knew, from the first time he mixed up a box cake mix and baked it, what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. He was going to be a pastry chef; the kind of pastry chef that had their own cookbooks and were sought after. Most people, when he told them this, said he’d change his mind; he was only twelve, no need to make large life choices that early, but his mom just smiled at him and kissed his shaggy head.

“Your great grandmother wrote down all her own recipes, do you want to come to the attic and see if we can find her recipe book?” She asked with a smile on her face and Jared thought it was the first time he’d known true happiness. There were a lot more happy times in his life to come because of his decision.

When Jared turned 16, his parents let him get his first job, working in the kitchen of a small bed and breakfast near their home. He loved it. He got to play in a real kitchen, with professional equipment, and learn what it was really like to make food for a living. It was never easy, but he loved every moment. He took notes, which the other line cooks made fun of him for, and on his days off he usually used the notes to experiment in his home kitchen. He taught himself a lot and his great grandmother’s recipe book got bigger and bigger.  The covers and pages were splattered and stained, pages began to fall out almost faster than he could add new ones. Eventually, it was less of a book and more of a collection of saran wrapped, ziploc bagged notebook pages that were held together on a hope and a prayer.

He entered contests at county and state fairs; at supermarkets and school. He made pies and cakes and cookies. He taught himself how to temper chocolate and what to look for when buying speciality ingredients. His fingers became calloused and scarred from burns achieved from working with sugar, but he learned how to do it all on his own. He made his first wedding cake, professionally, at the age of seventeen for the bed and breakfast that he worked for and vowed that he’d never have to work a “hot line” in a restaurant again. Baking was it for him. He obsessed over the food network challenges, learning what he could from them. He spoke with pastry chefs, all kinds of pastry chefs and they all said the same thing.

“Don’t waste your time and money on Culinary school. Decide who you want to work for; what you want to learn and convince _them_ that they want that too.”

Jared put his mind to it and decided; he wanted to work for Jensen Ackles, rockstar pastry chef and the sexiest thing on two legs.

\---------------------------------

Jensen Ackles didn’t look like a Sex God, Prince of Pastries but that exactly what he was. Thirty five years old, with spiked up soft brown hair and the body of a man ten years younger, he towered above most of the cooks that he worked with  at six foot one. His hands were calloused and scarred; the hands of a man that worked for a living, and his arms were thick with muscle and covered in tattoos from wrist to shoulder.

Jensen was raised in restaurants. His swaddling blanket was cheese cloth from his mama’s restaurant. His first toys were his daddy’s silicone kitchen utensils, right out of his knife kit. He was born into the world of professional culinary arts, and was just as amazing as that would imply, though his talents, much to the dismay of Mama and Papa Ackles, lay in the pastry direction as opposed to the savory.

He worked in his parents’ restaurants instead of going to public schools; his parents being life long restauranteurs and chefs were anti-social socialites. Everyone who works in professional kitchens is the same, the profession draws in the outcasts and the weirdos; the deranged and the awkward. Mama and Papa Ackles were no different from the rest and neither was Jensen; homeschooling was the way to go.

As a result, Jensen grew up painfully shy. When he was in a pastry kitchen, he was in his element. His chef whites were his armour against the world and no one that he came in contact with thought it odd that the attractive, intelligent and gifted pastry chef barely spoke. New people rotated in and out of the kitchen at the usual pace, most never staying long enough to question Jensen why he was still with his parents.

But the time comes when all children must leave the nest and strike out on their own and at the tender age of eighteen, Jensen decided it was time. Thanks to his parents Jensen had a good grasp on how to survive on his own and a nest egg saved up from being paid to work for them since he was fourteen. He moved from city to city, kitchen to kitchen, cuisine to cuisine trying to find his perfect fit. He never stayed more than a year in one place, never left without proper notice and a glowing recommendation from his former chefs.

For eight years he did this, moving around, trying to find somewhere he fit, and somewhere along the way, people began to take notice of him. He collected a family of sorts, a kitchen family, that began to follow him.

It started with Danneel. She was the scary good butcher in the restaurant in New Orleans he visited for most of his 21st year.  She took notice of the fresh meat in her kitchen right away, the two of them dancing around each other until she finally cornered him at an after-shift party one night.

“What’s your deal, pretty boy?” Dani asked, unused to have to pursue anything she wanted more than a night. She was gorgeous, tall and lean, big chested, red haired and foul mouthed; kitchen guys loved her, when they weren’t scared of her.

“My...deal?” Jensen’s voice was deep but soft and obviously confused. Dani seated herself and took another long swig of her beer before narrowing her eyes at him.

“Yeah, your deal. You straight? Gay? You’re not mute but you try to be. You don’t wanna socialize with the rest of us degenerates but you never act like you’re better than us, unlike some of those culinary school brats. You don’t have any tats, never get drunk or stoned on or off the clock, but you’re like the most meticulous pastry guy we’ve ever had. So, what’s your deal?” Dani was truly interested in the pretty boy, no matter what the deal was.

Danneel Harris was many things, best butcher in New Orleans among them, but she also was always ready to learn, especially when it came to food and the people who worked with food.

“Oh, well, my parents… see, I was raised in restaurants and… I mean kitchens are my home and I don’t really feel comfortable anywhere else but I don’t really… People make me really nervous... You are too close to me right now.” Jensen could feel his breath coming in short bursts and his heart rate picking up.

Dani raised an eyebrow in question but pushed back on the couch, giving Jensen some space.

“How do you handle being in a kitchen, if you can’t handle me sitting within touching distance?” She asked, beer raised to her lips again and genuinely curious. The only thing that had happened so far was she was more interested in the pretty boy in front of her.

“Kitchens are different; I don’t think about it there. Plus, it helps that I’m not on the hot line, but back in the pastry area.”

Dani nodded thoughtfully. She didn’t get any sense of attraction back from the pretty boy, but she had a strong, and nearly unfathomable, maternal feeling towards him all of a sudden.

“Alright Jenny, if that’s the way you want it. Bffs for life now.” She informed with a smile to match his look of mock horror.

She’d been with him ever since, moving from job to job and frequently filling in as his roommate when accommodations were tight in a new city. She helped him acclimate to life outside the kitchen and, with her patient and loving guidance, he learned to communicate with people. For the most part, anyway.

Misha Collins is an example of how Jensen failed to communicate but managed to make it work in the long run. Misha, who’s born and raised Boston accent was more incomprehensible than Dani before her coffee.

At their second stop after leaving New Orleans, Dani and Jensen found themselves in Boston at a restaurant on Beacon Hill. Misha Collins was the saucier, and seafood buyer for the restaurant. Slightly shorter than Jensen, with dark hair and bright, intelligent blue eyes he was handsome in a non-traditional way. Dani never saw the trouble until it already hit them in the face.

One night, once again out at a bar with the crew after service, Misha sauntered up to Jensen and engaged him in conversation before Dani could run interference. She was tied up debating the merits of having a full time butcher on staff versus simply making it a part of the grill stations daily duties with the sous chef and never noticed them talking. She certainly never noticed them leave together. In fact, she didn’t notice anything about them until the next morning when she was trying to get her coffee and Misha wandered out of Jensen’s bedroom in nothing but his underwear.

“Morn’n. Coffee yet?” Dani nearly didn’t understand; Misha’s natural Boston accent came out nearly  thick enough to spread on toast when he was still mostly asleep. She was about to answer, sarcastically of course, when she spotted an impressive bruise on the side of Misha’s neck and dark pink fingernail marks across his back.

“Wow. Too bad I missed the fun last night, even if Jensen didn’t let me join in, looks like it could’ve been a decent spectator sport.”

Misha turned sleepy eyes to her and smirked, a facial expression that looked very unnatural on him. She smiled and handed him a cup of coffee when she saw movement out of the corner of her eye.

“Cream is in the fridge and any kind of sweetener you like is in this cupboard.” She passed along airily, focusing on Jen’s panicked face in the hallway, making frantic motions that she thought meant he didn’t want Misha to know that he was awake.

“Nature calls, be right back.” She rolled her eyes at her own idiocy and calmly made her way back into the apartment’s shared bathroom, where Jensen stood waiting.

“You gotta help me get rid of him, Oh God, what did I do? Where were you last night? You’re supposed to help stop me from these bad ideas!” Jensen practically sobbed at her, clutching the front of her sleep-shirt in his anxiety.

“Well, honey, it’s not like you can avoid him forever. He’s gonna be at work later tonight just like the both of us. And you’re a grown... boy,” she supplied condescendingly enough that he picked up his head to glare at her, “you needed to get laid. You could’ve done worse.” She mused, looking him up and down with a finger on her lips.

“Then again, you could probably do better too. Anyway, what’s the big problem?”

“I don't sleep with the people I work with! I refuse to! I’ve grown up in this life Dani, you know that, and unless you’ve got a relationship like my parents, which I certainly won’t have with this man, you don’t sleep with the people you work with. AND now he can use my knives.” The last was said with such abject sadness that Dani could hardly hold back her laughter.

“ _If you don’t touch my dick, you don’t touch my knives_ , I know, I know. But honey, mister saucier back there isn’t gonna wanna touch your chocolate knives to cut shallots. Just be honest with him.”

“You two done talking about how to get riddah me yet? Cause I gotta piss and meet my guys at the docks about some fresh tuna comin’ in this morning.” Dani and Jensen both froze and turned to look at the bathroom door in horror. Dani reached out and opened it to see Misha standing there with a travel toothbrush and his shirt in his hands.

“Look, last night was fun and I’m totally open to repeating it if you want, if not, no big. You’re hot, but I’m not into the ‘monogamy’ thing.” Dani tried not to laugh that Misha pronounced that with air quote hand motions and all. “And honestly, the only one of your knives that I would want is the dull, old Chicago Cutlery that you use for chocolate curls.” Jensen crossed his arms and issued a wordless cry of denial and confusion.

“I’d want it for lobsters. You know how much lobster shells fuck up my knives? Anyway, you done now? I really gotta pee.”

And that was how Misha was initiated into their little group. Jensen never did sleep with him again, but Dani did, one drunken night a few months before they left Boston. They never expected Misha to travel around with them, his speciality in seafood lending a ‘near to the coast’ job need but it turned out that Misha was invaluable to them in the years to come as the one of them with the business background. Later in years, he stepped out of his whites and the kitchen and into a suit to became Jensen and Dani’s agent.

It was in Colorado, at a Food and Wine festival, that Jensen was ‘discovered’ by Food Network. He resisted at first, but with Dani on one side and Misha on the other, he eventually capitulated and struck up a deal. The executive, Mark Sheppard, a sarcastically hilarious but ultimately  trustworthy Englishman, said that between Jensen’s experience, family and face he’d be a star within a year.

It only took four months for Jensen Ackles to be a household name.

It started small, a show about from scratch-cooking, a sort of antidote to _Semi Homemade with Sandra Lee_. His viewership grew and grew. Fan mail came pouring in about Jensen, Dani and Misha and the dynamic they had between them. People loved to watch them, the show became one of the highest-rated ones on the network and once that happened their cookbooks began to fly off the shelves.

It was then that Misha stepped out of the kitchen to run the business side for Jensen and Dani. Dani was lured over to her own show and the network came down and told Jensen that they wanted to see something new from him. They wanted something different. They pitched a show about Jensen training an apprentice and once again, pressure from Dani and Misha helped to decide him, but only once he secured promises from both of them that they would help.

\----------------------------------------------------

Jared was just settling down to his brown-bagged lunch when Sandy came flying out of nowhere and tackled him.

“Ohmygod, did you see, did you see? It’s so perfect and you have to do it, are you gonna do it?” She rambled, excited as always. Jared blinked at her, slowly trying to separate the runon sentence she had rambled into decipherable words.

“Did I see what, Sands? Am I gonna do what? I have no idea what you’re talking about and please take a deep breath and slow down before you start talking again.” He laughed.

“Jensen. Freaking. Ackles. On Food Network? You know, the sexy pastry chef that you’re always talking about? He’s holding a competition to find a new apprentice. You have to apply to be in the competition Jared.”

As always, at the mention of Jensen Ackles, Jared felt his skin flush hot.

"Yeah, Sands, of course I saw it. I mean, c'mon. But, like, its not like I can actually apply or anything. Plus, I saw they're doing it as, like, a back to your roots promo on food network and he's doing it at his parent's restaurant. Even if I could GET there, I'd be too... myself to actually make it happen." By the time Jared was done rambling, his tiny, intimidating best friend looked downright scary.

"Would you stop putting yourself down? God Jay, you're amazing in the kitchen and you've been creating your own recipes since we were little. You don't have a job, you're not going to school and didn't your grandma give you all that money for graduation? You have the time, the talent and the means. You're going. Besides..." Sandy trailed off, looking, well, if Jared didn't know her so well, he'd say she looked sheepish. But, Sandy never looked sheepish.

"Besides, I might have already sent in your application for you and got an acceptance. And, I maybe asked my parents for a hotel room in Richardson as a graduation gift for the two of us. They're thrilled by the way. They paid for the room happily. So, you can pay for us to get there and ooomph-"

Jared picked up his tiny best friend and wrapped his giant arms around her middle to stop her from talking.

"What would I ever do without you?" He asked, choked up with love for his friend.

"Stay in this podunk town your whole life, I'm sure. There aren't even any good looking men here, Jay. You'd die an old maid, bored out of your mind cooking for stray dogs and feral cats." It was something Sandy had said many, many times before and it never rang more true as it did in that moment. Jared hefted Sandy over his shoulder like a sack of flour and started walking towards his house, lunch forgotten.

"C'mon, let's go tell Ma. She'll be thrilled."

\-----------------------------------

Two weeks later found Jared and Sandy in Jared’s beat up old truck on the road to Richardson and the competition. Sandy grinned from the passenger seat, stealing Jared's candy and slurping down Mountain Dew like it was going out of style.

"I always wanted to road trip with you. This is gonna be so much fun, oh my god!" Jared laughed at her, sipping at his water and trying to calm the slight tremor that he'd had in his hands ever since he'd seen the acceptance letter that Sandy showed him.

Four hours closer to their destination, Sandy's enthusiasm dimmed somewhat, coincidentally happening when her soda ran out and she started to crash from all the sugar. She slept the rest of the way to the hotel that her parents had booked, giving Jared time to think.

He ran through every scenario he could imagine for this contest. He won, he lost, he got eliminated first due to his cake burning. He imagined throwing up on Jensen Ackles, just to make sure that he thought about the actual worst thing that could happen when he was there.

His obsession, yes, obsession- he was self aware enough to admit it, with Jensen Ackles had reached gargantuan proportions. He was pretty sure he'd never be able to talk to him at all. He just hoped that his recipes, talent and genuine love for food would get him far enough that he got the chance to speak to him. Or try to.

He let his mind drift off to his happy place, Jensen and him in a spotless kitchen alone. Kissing. Taking off clothes. Tracing the lines of Jensen's tattoos with the tip of his tongue as they frantically scrambled for -

"JARED!" His mind snapped back to what he was doing and he yanked on the wheel even as he slammed on the brakes when he noticed the brake lights in front of him.

"What the hell were you thinking, you could've gotten us both killed!" Sandy screeched at him. Jared felt his face flush as he kept his eyes and his mind firmly focused on the road in front of him.

"Huh, I know that look Jared Padalecki, don't think I don't. You keep your pervy thoughts to yourself and your mind focused on the road right now. Jensen Ackles and your little fantasies can wait."Jared felt his cheeks flush deep red; he was horrified and impressed that Sandy knew what his turned-on face looked like. Mostly horrified. He tried to put it out of his mind, but they were stuck in traffic and he couldn't’ stop thinking about it.

“Why do you know what my face looks like when I’m-” He cut himself off from finishing that sentence aloud, but Sandy read him just like she always did.

“When you’re horny? Well, Jay-bird, it’s because you have what people like to call a glass face. Anyone could look at you and see what you’re thinking, my sweet. I only know you better than most so I can see the subtleties. Like being turned on. Plus, it’s the same face you make anytime someone mentions “Chef Ackles.””

\-------------------------------

“Mom, Dad, I can’t thank you enough for letting us use the restaurant for this. I know that you don’t really want to-” Alan cut his son off with a dismissing wave of his hand.

“We haven't closed for more than a few days in years. Plus, I’ve been assured by your Misha that this will be excellent publicity and perhaps I’ll be able to get your mother that new hobart she’s been talking about with the proceeds.” Jensen’s dad joked as his mother slapped him on the arm.

“Forget about that, I’m taking a vacation! In the sun! I’m going to get sunburned and do nothing but drink Bahama Mama’s on beach for a week. It’s going to be fabulous. You take as much time here as you want, sweetheart. Can’t wait to hear all about it.” Donna kissed her son’s cheek and headed back into the house to gather up her bags; they were leaving for the airport in a matter of minutes and, in addition to allowing Jensen to use their restaurant, he was also staying at their newly-renovated house.

“Don’t forget to keep an eye on your mother’s vegetable garden. Have fun.” Alan said with a wave, leaving Jensen alone on the back porch.

The next day would begin phase one of the competition: the written test to pare down the intimidating number of contestants who had made the trek thus far. Jensen had been the one for the first test to be an actual written test, because there was just so much that you could tell from that. He knew that this apprentice he was going to be stuck with for a year had to have more than a pretty face and an affinity for baked goods. They needed to be literate, intelligent, with math skills and the ability to think quickly.

So, the competition developed into a gauntlet-style contest. Written test as phase one. Phase two was developed by Misha and Jensen had thought it was brilliant immediately. Phase three was Dani’s idea. The final phase was determined by the network and no amount of arguing could make them change their minds; luckily Jensen had a few tricks up his sleeve.

Phase two was designed to see if the competitors follow instruction and do what they’re told, no matter what. Sometimes, you just have to say “yes Chef” and do what you’re told to do, even if it’s wrong. The competitors were going to be given a recipe that was very slightly wrong. If they followed the instructions, what came out of the oven would be a vanilla-flavored, unleavened cake with a broken, clumpy frosting.

Phase three was kitchen knowledge and intuition. The competitors would be given a recipe with a photo and description of the finished dish, but it would be missing some ingredients and missing the measurements of the other ingredients. They’d have to fill in the blanks, using only what's in their heads.

The final challenge was a blind basket, something that the Food Network had discovered that viewers adore, but made Jensen roll his eyes. So, he had a few private requirements for that challenge.

The winner of all four phases would get a contract to be Jensen’s assistant/intern for one year. They’d travel with him, do food shows and tv spots and whatever else Jensen did. They’d be joined at the hip for twelve months, so Jensen knew that he’d be watching every move these kids made from when they stepped into the restaurant tomorrow.

With that thought, and a slap on his neck at the mosquito that just bit him, Jensen swallowed the last of his ice water and headed inside to try and get some sleep before the big day. Letting out a breath as he shut the patio door behind him, he thought that he was probably just as nervous as some of the competitors.

\-------------------------------

Jared woke up at four am the morning of the competition, though he was not due at “A’s” until ten. He was sweating, not unusual for him, but his stomach was in knots and he was hyperventilating. He couldn’t help but wake Sandy up with his nerves.

“Sands, Sandy, SANDY ohmygod what was I thinking? I can’t do this! Why did we spend all this money and take this time and I should have just applied to work at Whole Foods in the bakeshop instead. I’m not talented enough for this and oh shit, I'm gonna be in the same room as JENSEN ACKLES. I mean, like, what even? How am I supposed to look him in the face when I’ve imagined him bending me over and fu-”

“Whoooooaaaa there big fella. First, TMI. TMI forever, I don’t need to hear about your dirty little fantasies. Second, you have more talent in your little finger than most people have in their whole bodies.  You’re smart and sweet and love baking... well, pretty much any food with sugar in it. You’re not horrible to look at, so Food Network will love you. You need to relax.” Sandy forced herself out of her bed, the entire speech given with eyes only slitted open and covers still pulled up to her chin.

She smacked her lips and shoved the blankets off the bed; truth be told she’d fallen asleep the night before expecting for something like this to happen. For all of Jared’s blessings in life, confidence was somehow not one of them. She tousled Jared’s floppy hair on the way to the bathroom.

“Since it’s I-don’t-even-wanna-know-o’clock in the morning, let’s suit up and go for a run before we get some breakfast in you. We gotta find something better than stale, frozen pastries and old fruit offered at continental breakfast in the hotel.”

Eight am found the two friends at The House Cafe, which had been recommended by someone they’d met while running. The food was basic but excellent, the service amazing but best of all was the booth in the back corner of the restaurant was occupied by none other than Dani Harris and Misha Collins.

Jared vibrated with excitement, trying to keep himself from going over and doing something stupid like asking for an autograph when he was going to meet them in a few hours. By the time he finally managed to calm down and enjoy his breakfast with Sandy, the doors opened and, like in a cheesy movie, Jensen Ackles walked inside. Jensen’s eyes slid over the table containing Sandy and Jared, a bright but silly flash of disappointment running through Jared’s body at that, until it landed at the table containing his friends and his face broke into a smile so beautiful that angels wept.

Or so Jared told Sandy, but she said she didn’t hear any angels sing, even if he was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen in real life. Jensen was even more breathtaking in person than he was in the poster that Jared had on the back of his bedroom door at home. The toothy smile he sent his friends; the way his green eyes lit up when his food arrived; the freckles dotting his pale skin and the tattoos swirling on his biceps and… it was at that moment that Jared realized that he was going to have a problem when he got up from the table. He turned his puppy-dog eyes onto Sandy.

“I have a problem.” He admitted through clenched teeth. Sandy kicked his shin with her tiny foot.

“Oh yeah? Shocker. Maaaaaaybe if you would keep those thoughts under control, or maaaaaaybe if you could’ve just sit here and payed attention to me, like, I dunno, you were enjoying my company wouldn’t have this problem. You know, Jared, you know what your problem is-” Jared cut Sandy off before she could begin to list off his failings. He didn’t need that before the biggest day of his life.

“Well, thanks. You’ve nagged it into submission and I’m good to go. Did we pay yet, cause I need to get back to the hotel and change before I have to head to the-”

Sadly, another one of the blessings that Jared lacked in his life was grace. When he was in the kitchen, he was light on his feet, he was spinning, twirling, the most graceful thing a person could ever see. In the rest of his life, however, less so. Jared was tall, six foot five when he stood up straight, with the giant feet and long legs that it would imply. So, as he attempted to get up from the table, he caught the leg of his own chair with the tip of his shoe and went down like a sack of potatoes; that is to say bruisingly and loudly. Sandy squeaked and dropped to his side immediately, checking to make sure that no blood was spilled.

Unfortunately for Jared and his nerves, the only other occupied table in the dining room also noticed and came over to check on him, which meant that, suddenly and in his darkest moment, Jared was confronted with Jensen Ackles’ perfect face next to his own asking if he was okay.

He felt himself swoon in the presence of his long-time crush, breathing in his cologne and coffee breath, and loving all of it.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Happens a lot. I’m kinda clumsy.” Jared squeaked, forcing himself to his feet too fast and wavering when he got a headrush. Jensen reached out and gripped him by the biceps.

“Whoa there, slow down, yeah? Do you need to sit down for a minute?” He asked, gesturing for Misha to pull Jared’s chair close.

Jared shook his head. He had to get out of there. He had to pull himself together. He had to decide if he could survive the embarrassment of this moment and actually show up to the competition later.

“No, we were just leaving. Jared is actually one of the competitors on your show later and I’ve got to get him back to the hotel and get ready. Thank you so much for coming over to help us though, it’s been real nice to meet you.” Sandy piped up and Jared wasn't sure if he wanted to kiss her or kill her. Probably both, he decided, when Jensen let go of him to smile up at him, a twinkle in his gorgeous green eyes.

“Oh, well, I’ll tell you a little secret for today then. There’s no cooking, so even if you did bump your head, you won’t need to worry about being in the kitchen.” He added with a wink, making Jared’s knees wobble warningly.

“Th-th-thanks. I guess I’ll go get ready and we will see you in an hour.” He felt his skin flush bright red as he stuttered out his thanks while trying not to fall again while those famous green eyes shined at him.

“We are really looking forward to it, sorry, what was your name again?” Dani asked, a smirk on her lips as she leaned in between the very close-standing Jared and Jensen.  Jared turned to look at her blankly, but thankfully Sandy was still there and paying attention well enough to answer.

“Jared. Jared Padalecki. C’mon now Jared, let’s start walking back to the hotel.” Sandy tugged him towards the exit, keeping her poise even as he refused to take his eyes off Jensen, who was returning that particular favor by watching him leave.

“What. The. Fuck. Was. That?  Jesus, Jensen, you can’t give insider info to competitors! You signed a contract! He signed a contract, what the fuck were you thinking?’ Misha ranted, waving his hands in the air in front of an unresponsive, smiling Jensen.

“He’s besotted. He likes the pretty.” Dani teased finally getting Jensen to react, by sputtering.

“I-I’m not- BESOTTED! Who the fuck talks like that, anyway?”

“Fine, you don’t like besotted? How about bewitched? Captivated? Infatuated? Smiiiiiiitten?” She smiled and danced out of the reach of Jensen’s grabbing arms.

Jensen groaned, frustrated with the people that he used to call his friends.“I’m not fucking smitten with the little boy that was just here. He’s cute is all, but he’s...can he even be legal?”

Misha replied, after throwing cash on their table to cover the check, “Well, the contest was 16 with a parent’s permission and 18 otherwise. And there’s only one kid under 18 and his name is Osric so, yeah, he’s legal. But what you did Jen, I’m not sure that I can…”

Jensen cut Misha off with a wave of his hand as they walked to “A’s” to meet the competitors. “Dude, you were more fun when you were a foul-mouthed saucier from South Boston. Dude, it’s not like I gave him the answers, I just told him that today wasn’t going to be any kitchen work. Kid went down hard and is probably hurting bad. Take a fucking breath. And Dani, if you start up again I swear to God. He’s cute but I’m not fucking smitten. So let’s drop it, Mark’s waiting inside for our sorry asses to get the show on the road.”

Dani and Misha exchanged a look behind their friend’s back, silently agreeing to drop it for now. But all three of them knew that Jensen wasn’t telling the truth and it’d been a long time since he’d felt anything for anyone, including simple lust. Dani was not going to let it go and thought that she would do what it took to make sure that Jared Padalecki had his day in the sun, even if he didn’t win.

\-------------------------------

“Welcome everyone to the first day of Tough Cookie, the competition for a one year contracted internship with none other than our very own Jensen Ackles.” Mark Shepard paused for the applause and cheers as Jensen came to stand next to him and look out over the assembled competitors.

There were fourteen people, seven men and seven women, from all walks of life.  Ages ranged from sixteen to thirty seven and the experience level ranged from none all the way to slightly more experience than Jensen. Mark and Misha had been the two going through all of the applications and sending out acceptance letters; this was the first time that Jensen would be seeing any of them.

“Welcome everyone. So, as y’all probably already know, A’s is my parent’s restaurant and I was raised right here in this building, when I was little we lived in the upstairs apartment. My folks are sure sad they couldn’t be here to meet y’all but my momma says my daddy is about 30 years overdue on takin’ her on a honeymoon. They made me promise that y’all would be good to their baby, and try not to be too hard on me either.” Jensen’s Texas accent had been growing more and more pronounced since he’d gotten back home but it even surprised him a little just how southern that speech had been.

Jared stood at the back of the room, towering over all the other competitors, and listening to Mark and Jensen speak in a fog, still dazed from meeting Jensen earlier. He tried to force his wavering attention span but failed and ended up observing the people around him. There were a few pretty girls, a redhead named Alaina and a blonde named Alona. There was a tiny kid, he was some kind of super genius and was only 16, his name was Osric. There was the blonde man Mark, he looked like he'd been cooking in shady restaurants for a long time. Then there was the silver fox, the oldest person there and the only person Jared didn't tower over, though he smugly noted he was still taller than Jeff.

Jeff stuck out because a- Jared would have thought the man was pants-bustingly hot if Jensen wasn't in the room and b- he was looking at Jensen like the chef was the thing on the menu. Feathers ruffled by that, it took everything Jared had to not reach out and physically remind Jeff that this was a cooking competition not an episode of “The Bachelor."

He shook himself from his contemplation when everyone applauded for Jensen and Mark began speaking again. “So, today we have something a little bit different for you all. Since you will be traveling with Jensen for a year and acting as whatever he needs, we need to know a few things about you that can best be discovered by a good, old-fashioned written test. If everyone could come get a test booklet and take a seat at a table in the dining room we will get started. OH, and please, when you’re finished, stick close by as we want to have short, one-on-one interviews with everyone on camera.”

Eyes widening in alarm and wondering how serious the test was going to be, Jared joined the line next to Alaina. The pretty redhead leaned over and smiled at him.

“You look like you’re about to pass out from panic. Calm down. Basic food math and recipe skills. They just want to make sure we are all literate.” She laughed and Jared found himself strangely at ease in her presence.

It turned out that Alaina was totally correct. Basic food math, recipe reading skills, and a short essay about what made you start cooking in the first place, whether you had a speciality or not and if there was any reason that you should be picked over your competition. Jared was the second person finished, Osric being the first by literal seconds. They headed up to the table where Mark and Misha were sitting to hand in their booklets.

Osric leaned in close to speak to him as they headed up to the table. “Man, a written test? I could’ve taken it in my sleep. I just finished my high school degree last week, those tests were difficult. I am so nervous and I don’t even want to be here. My mom sent in the application, she thought being on tv would be good for me. But I don’t even like to bake, only cook.” Before Jared could get in a word edgewise, Osric was being called away for his interview and Jared was motioned to have a seat and wait next to Misha.

“How’s your head?” Jared looked around for the source of the soft words but didn’t immediately find them until he noticed Jensen, hiding behind a curtain and watching the group as they wrote their tests. He took a moment to try and remember how to make his lungs work before answering, “Fine. Looked worse than it was honestly.” in a whisper.

“That’s good, I’m glad you’re alright.” The words came fast and hit Jared right in the stomach when he realized that JENSEN ACKLES was not only talking to him, but confessing, basically, that he’d been worried about him.

“JAred Pad-pad...hmmm...pad-a-leck-ie?” An assistant came out of the kitchen, reading his name off a piece of paper and he heard another whisper of “good luck” as he stumbled out of the dining room and into the kitchen. There was one chair set up in the back of the kitchen, clearly the dessert station/pastry chef’s corner, and a camera pointed at it. Fumbling and blushing and still bewildered about what just happened he sat down in the chair.

“So, Jared, this is all informal. You’ve watched reality shows with a confessional in them, yeah? Just look at the camera, tell me a little about yourself, your family, how you got here, whatever.”

Blushing fiery red, Jared’s mind raced as he tried to think about how to talk about himself. He did, in fact, want the people at home to like him as he knew that home viewers opinion would matter at one point.

“Hey, I’m Jared. I started baking when I was really little and my ma dug out my great gramma’s recipe book and let me have free reign in her kitchen. I have notebooks upon notebooks of recipes now. I love baking and pastries, I’ve kinda become a food nerd as I grew up, I guess.” He paused to look down and rub the back of his neck bashfully, which Sandy told him was super cute when he did it, but it was not at all an act; he was embarrassed to be talking about himself.

“That’s great Jared, thanks. Don’t wanna do too much right now or people could get too attached. If you get picked to move on, we will do a bigger spot with you and get more info. You can head back to your hotel now, they’ll be calling you back here later once they’ve made the first cuts.”

\-------------------------------

Jensen, Misha and Dani were going through the tests back at his parent’s house. Mark had tried to get them to stay at the restaurant and under the watchful eye of the camera but Jensen had insisted that the true “cuts” of contestants would not be filmed.

“Holy shit Jen, this person misspelled ‘patisserie’. Where’s the ‘cut’ pile?” Dani tossed the test and attached demographic sheet onto the pile that the three friends had deemed the ‘cut’ pile.

“I know that Mark would love for us to string this along but, don’t be afraid to be harsh here. I’m good with cutting all but five or six people. Cut two on the second challenge, one on the third challenge and go into the end with three contestants.” Jensen told his friends, absorbed in reading the frankly excellent essay in front of him written by Jeff Morgan. “Hey, was this that silver fox that stood in the back making eyes at me?”

“Yeah, not entirely sure that the contest will work like that Jen, especially with the way that the next two stages are set up. Kinda pass/fail here.” Misha answered, nodding as he took the pages and looked over Jeff’s test. He offered them to Dani but she waved it away, passing her own personal favorite over to Jensen instead.

“I’m certain that it’ll turn out however we want to it turn out, wink wink. Tv is all fixed anyway. Still remember our first show? How sad we all were when we realized that nothing that actually got cooked on tv was used in the final product. What am I looking at here?” Jensen asked with a frown on his face.

“I dunno about your silver fox but this is the cutie pie from breakfast and, technically, you saw him first.” Laughter followed her pronouncement, which got louder as she and Misha noticed the pinking of Jensen’s ears. “Ignoring how cute he is and how much he loves you already, you big nerd, the kid is seriously talented and has, like, no ego. Which is just bizarre for a chef but the proof is on that paper. He barely talked himself up at all.” Dani continued aloud, even though Jensen was reading for himself.

“Well, silver fox or baby face, at least I’ll have something nice to look at no matter where I turn.” Jensen tried to dismiss his friends but they had known him too well for too long to be fooled. Misha and Dani shared a silent look over the top of Jensen’s head and both of them began scheming.

All along, his friends had thought the contest was a great idea; for Jensen to take an apprentice, but now with the hint of a romance in his life in addition to his apprentice? It was like a dream come true for them both. Jensen needed someone in his life to love him for him, not anything that he could do for them. He needed someone to ground him. Someone to remind him that food wasn’t everything from time to time.

\-------------------------------

Jared was so nervous waiting at the hotel for the phone call to return to the restaurant that he fell totally silent, sitting and staring into nothingness and Sandy started to get worried. She knelt down on the floor in front of his bed and took his hands into her own, finally getting him to blink and focus on her.

“I’m getting worried Jare-Bear. Did you get a concussion this morning or what?”

“Hah, no I just… “ He trailed off, really looking into her eyes, trying to get her to understand so that what he had to say wouldn’t sound too ridiculous.

“Have you ever wanted something so badly that you felt sick with it? This thing it may seem so silly to some people. Like that kid, Osric, he doesn’t even want to be here and it’s all I’ve wanted for years. YEARS. I mean, I’ve wanted to be a party chef forever, but this chance to apprentice for Jensen it just...makes it, it makes this whole thing a fucking Disney-perfect dream come true.” Jared felt the words leaving him in a near-sob. His stomach was tied in knots, his hands were shaking. “I want it so bad.”

“Oh Jared I know you do, that’s why we’re here and why we’re gonna stay here. You’re not gonna go home empty handed, I swear to you.” With a hug and a laugh Sandy stood up and dusted off her knees. “Now, c’mon. We won’t get called for a few more hours at least and I know that you must be starving.”

“I’m always starving.” Jared lamented as he let himself be dragged out of the hotel room.

“Yeah, that’s how I know you must be starving now, silly Jare-Bear.”

\-----------------------------------

“Thank you all so much for coming back. Jensen, Misha, Danneel and myself have been through your tests and we have decided on the six people that will be moving on to the next level of Tough Cookie. If I call your name, please come stand over here by Jensen.” Mark announced, giant TV smile on his face as he looked at the group of people standing in front of him, more than half of which he was about to send home, dreams crushed.

“Alaina Huffman. Jeffrey Morgan. Kim Rhodes. A.J. Buckley. Adrianne Palicki. Jared Padalecki.”

Jared was pretty sure that he was going to pass out, hearing his name called last. He let out the breath he’d been holding as slowly and unobtrusively as he could before joining the group that was staying and moving on to the next challenge. He stood quietly with the group, eyes downcast lest he catch the eye of someone going home.

“The rest of you, thank you so much for coming. It’s been a pleasure to meet you and we at Food Network hope to see you again someday.” The eight rejected competitors filed out of the restaurant while the six remaining stood and quietly chatted amongst themselves. Well, some of them did. Jared was too lightheaded to speak, though he did follow the conversation and smile. The only other person not speaking was Jeffrey and he was too busy ogling Jensen to notice anything else.

Thankfully, Jared noted, Jensen didn't look interested or even flattered, only bored.

“If all of you could take a seat, we will go over what is expected of you with the next challenge and when and where it will take place.” Jared took his seat and looked up to see that Jensen and Danneel were both watching him, Danneel with a kind smile on her face but Jensen with no expression at all. Jared’s face flamed red and he lowered his eyes back to the floor, completely missing the soft smile that Jensen aimed at him.

“The next challenge will take place the day after tomorrow. Tomorrow will be a sort of rest day for you all, but be reachable, because we will be calling you for on-camera interviews throughout the course of the day and all of you are expected here tomorrow for a group dinner, which will be filmed.” Mark smiled another tv smile at the assembled group and waved his hands, dismissing them. Jensen was already gone before Jared even got up from his chair.

“Hey, Jared, right?” A tall blonde approached him and he smiled, nodding his head.

“And you’re Adrianne.”

“Yeah, but most of my friends call me Adi. So, I’m pretty sure that we’re staying in the same hotel and I was wondering if you wanted to walk back together? And... maybe introduce me to your friend?” Adrianne asked with a bright, confident smile.

“Who, Sandy? Uh, yeah, I don’t think she swings that way but I’m happy to introduce you. And walk with you.” Fumbling his words as always, Jared gestured for Adi to proceed him out of the room. They spent much of the fifteen minute walk talking about the other competitors.

“Alaina is really nice and so is AJ. I don’t really know Kim, she seems nice but a little stand-offish? And Jeff…”

“Jeff gives me the fucking creeps.” Jared filled in for her. “Jeff needs to stop looking at Jensen like he’s for dinner or this is the bachelor or something, you know?”

Adi paused, looking at Jared curiously before starting to walk again. “Yeah, for the most part I agree. Oh look, here we are. You and Sandy wanna have dinner with me? We can find some local hole in the wall? Pinky swear we won’t talk shop all night!”

Her smile was so sincere that Jared found himself agreeing before he’d even thought about what Sandy might want. It turned out that Sandy was just fine with it  and happy to meet someone new.

The three of them went exploring out in Richardson. Jared had, of course, done his food research before they came on the trip and honestly, A’s would have been at the top his must eat list, regardless of who it belonged to. Unfortunately, it was closed for the duration. So, they went to Haystack Burgers and Barley and waited for a table for almost an hour, their conversation only falling silent when they saw Jeff and AJ leaving together. Jared blinked, confused, but Sandy and Adi pulled him out of it.

The next day was spent exploring. Jared was called to do his interview at eleven, leaving plenty of time for he and Sandy to see some of the museums that had been on her wish list, and still make it back to A’s in time for the cast dinner at six. Despite being sat across from Jeff and having to watch him make eyes at Jensen the whole meal, Jared enjoyed himself.

“I miss baking. I’m glad we start the competition tomorrow, this is the longest I've been out of the kitchen in forever.” Jared confessed to Sandy as he brushed his teeth and got ready for bed. Sandy yawned and nodded softly, already mostly asleep. Jared turned out the light and tiptoed into bed, pulling the covers up and stretching his legs as he stared up at the darkened ceiling.

\-------------------------------------------

Jensen was relieved to be back at his parent’s house, away from the cameras and the tv people and the crowd. He popped open two beers and handed one to Dani, his rock, his confidant, his best friend.

“...and that’s why you’re being a total fucking idiot.” He paused to reassess and figure out what she was talking about.

“Why, again, am I a total fucking idiot?”

Dani snorted and swallowed half of her beer, letting out a belch that would make a sailor wrinkle his nose in disgust before answering. “Cause you’re here with me instead of hitting on the little cutie, Jared. Dude, that boy would fall to his knees and suck your cock if you just looked at him the right way, no asking required.”

“How many times do I have to tell you that this is not a dating show and I’ve signed a contract? Every single one of those people are off limits until the ‘show’ is over, or I forfeit my contract with Food Network and have to pay them back the, frankly, ridiculous fee they’ve paid me? He could be my soul-mate for all I know and I still have to wait.” Exasperated, Jensen swiped the rest of Dani’s beer from her and slugged it back in one go before finishing his own.

“Whatever man, that kid would never rat you out. You need to get laid, is all I’m saying. How fucking long has it been?”

Jensen knew exactly how long it had been, and to be honest so did Daneel, but he still simply shrugged. He and his hand were very close as of late, but Dani didn’t need to know that. Maybe, he thought, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if some kind of relationship- physical only of course- came of this farce.

The next morning found Jensen, Dani and Misha setting up six identical stations in the kitchen of the restaurant. They’d thought long and hard about the best way to stage this challenge, but ultimately having everyone in the kitchen at once was the best way.

They stocked the pantry with enough ingredients and placed the pre-printed recipe cards on each station.

\--------------------------------------

“Welcome to the second challenge on Tough Cookie! Today is all about following directions. Each of you has a recipe card on your station. The recipe should take you about five hours to complete, start to finish so that’s how long you have. All you have to do today is follow the recipe exactly. And your time starts now.”

Jared flipped over the recipe card and felt the blood drain from his face; the recipe was wrong. The cake recipe had no leavener, it wouldn’t rise, and the frosting recipe had all the right ingredients but if he followed the instructions it would break, making it look like curdled milk. He swallowed hard and surreptitiously looked around at the other competitors.

Kim, AJ and Jeff already had food in their mixers and the ovens on. Adi was looking at the recipe card like he was, their eyes caught for just a second and she shrugged, heading to the pantry to get the ingredients and Alaina... she was arguing with herself at her station. Jared took a deep breath and looked up at the judges, narrowing his eyes and trying to think like them as he slowly made his way to the pantry.

They made it very clear that they were to follow the instructions. Whoever printed the recipe cards had to know that the recipes were flawed. So they were trying to find out who could follow instructions no matter what. Well, he could do this. It hurt, deep in his soul, to make a cake that he knew would never rise. He said a prayer to Saint Honore, patron saint of pastry chefs, and Saint Elizabeth, the patron saint of bakers, and got to work.

When the proverbial smoke cleared, there were, in fact, two perfect cakes. One from Kim’s station and the other from Alaina’s. It was so ingrained in them to fix flawed recipes that they’d done it, according to them, without thinking and were eliminated for it.

“A good chef should always know when a recipe is flawed. However, this is a competition to become an intern, and a good intern follows instructions.” Misha announced after the cakes had been presented. Kim and Alaina were thanked for their time and sent home.

“I know that had to be tough for all of you, it was tough for me to watch. You all did a great job. Once again, tomorrow is going to be a free day for y’all to do whatever you want with another little on-camera staff meal here at six pm. Looking forward to getting a little bit more face time with all of y’all. Good job again and have a good night.”

Jared breathed out a sigh of relief, looking forward to his day off and headed towards the exit to meet Sandy for dinner. Adrianne caught up with him half way back to their shared hotel and they walked in companionable silence.

“Jared! Are we heading home yet?” Sandy yelled from the pool where she’d camped herself during the days. She waved both Jared and Adi over.

“No, no one is going home yet. And you gotta stop yelling, it’s supposed to be a surprise until the show airs on tv.” He chided halfheartedly.

“What’s your deal Padalecki?” Sandy asked, hands in fists on her hips.

“Tired. All the anxiety build up and let down from the day is catching up to me. Kinda just wanna order a pizza and crash early. You two gonna be pissed if I bail?”

Adi and Sandy made eye contact, sharing some kind of silent girl communication before they turned and waved Jared on his way. He started walking into the hotel, their conversation fading into the background as he moved. He hadn’t lied to his best friend, but he hadn’t told the truth either.

He ordered a pizza and ate the whole thing, watching tv on rote. He forced himself up and into a shower and clean pajamas while he still had the room to himself. Jared could feel the tension building up in his head; he was about to have what his mama called a “quiet day.”

No one is really sure if pastry chefs are natural introverts or if introverts are drawn to being pastry chefs but it’s a fairly common phenomenon. Jared hides it really well most of the time but sometimes he breaks, he needs to spend a day in bed, not talking, pretending to be asleep whenever someone else is in the room, and processing everything that life has been throwing at him.

His day off from the competition couldn’t have come at a better time. He needed the day to recharge his batteries and get ready to be camera-ready and on the top of his game for the next competition. He made it through the dinner with the other competitors only due to the fact that he had Adi sitting next to him, giving silent support.

“You ready for whatever they might throw at us tomorrow?” Adi asked as they made their way back to the hotel after dinner.

Jared paused to think about it before answering, choosing his words carefully simply because she was sweet but still his competition. “I’m not worried. I’ve seen a lot of the competition shows that the Food Network puts on and I can’t imagine there’s too much they haven’t done before.”

Adi nods, her blonde curls bouncing with with motion of her head. She smiled big and wide when they came upon the hotel and saw Sandy waiting out front for them and Jared wondered if he’d missed something when Sandy smiled back, more than simple friendliness clear in her expression.

“Well, I think I’ll head up.” Jared began before either of the girls could say anything. “Sands, I’m beat so don’t worry about waking me when you come back. Adi, see you in the morning.” He made a quick escape up to his room and climbed into the shower.

\------------------------------------

Jensen stepped lightly through the kitchen, finding it easier to judge how things were going from up close than watching a tv screen like the network wanted him to. Adrianne had a smile on her face but, as he walked by and glanced at her recipe sheet, he noted that she’d made some mistakes in her math and was probably going home. Jeff made him vaguely uncomfortable up close, but his recipe was flawless and his workstation was clean and he certainly looked good on camera. AJ was an enigma to Jensen, sweet but somehow clueless, almost an idiot savant. Jensen wasn’t sure how he was still there, but the kid was entertaining.

And then there was Jared. Sweet, sexy, nerdy Jared, who Jensen watched use baker's percentages to double check his math for his recipe conversions. Who was, quite possibly, the most graceful thing he’d ever seen in a kitchen. Who blushed every time Jensen walked past him and stammered adorably when Jensen spoke to him. Who blatantly glared at Jeff when he smiled at Jensen or tired to get too close. Dani, when they met up after an earlier walk through of the kitchen, had confessed that Jared was, “as big of a food nerd as you are” and winked at them both, completely lacking in any kind of subtlety. Not that Danneel Harris had even been skilled at subtlety. He’d nodded at her to get her out of his face but inside he was churned up like old-fashioned butter.

“Competitors, you have thirty minutes remaining! Everything should be out of the ovens and cooling, if it’s not you will not be finished in time!” Jensen announced from the expeditor station at the front of the kitchen. A chorus of “yes, chef”s was music to his ears and he smiled over at Dani, who was watching from the pantry area.

The challenge had been Dani’s brain child. Each contestant had been given a recipe that was half-completed. They had all of the ingredients, but only the final yield of the recipe and one of the ingredient measurements, they had to do the rest themselves. It was a basic math test, plus how well they all worked under pressure.

Thus far, the only blatant error that Jensen had been able to spot was at Adrianne’s station, but he would know more once he was doing the taste test of the finished products.  He looked up to see that Jared and Jeff were plating up their offerings, all the while each of them shooting looks at the other.

He checked the clock again. “Five minutes everyone. You should be plating by now!” He took a few steps over to the table where they’d all be placing their finished cakes and motioned Dani to join him. Mark would also be helping to taste test the cakes, though he was there more for color commentary than actual pastry knowledge. Jared approached the table with his cake, tastefully but plainly decorated, and placed it in front of Jensen with a shy smile that Jensen couldn’t help but return. Dani nudged his foot under the table and he swung his foot subtly to kick her in the shin.

“Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, SPATULAS DOWN! Bring your cakes to the judging table now!”

Jeff’s cake was lavishly decorated and perfectly executed and he was sent to the final round along with Jared. Adrianne was also sent to the final round, though her cake had fallen slightly due to her math miscalculation, it was a much smaller mistake than AJ’s mix up which rendered his cake totally inedible. AJ was sent home with a smile and a wish for good luck.

“So, we are down to the final three. Dani, Misha and I want to take the opportunity to get to know each of you a bit better before the final competition, as your personalities are going to come into play when we do the final judgements. Adrianne, we will see you here, tomorrow, at nine am. Jeff, you’ll be the next day and Jared, the day after that. Then, on the fourth day, we will meet for instructions for the final contest. For now, go back to your hotels and get some rest. Our day together isn’t going to be all talking and sightseeing, but that’s all I’ll say on the matter.” Jensen gave them a wink and a smile for the cameras, loving the way that Jared’s eyelashes fluttered and the tips of his ears went pink.

Jensen thought that he could get used to Jared looking at him like that, and maybe more.

\------------------------------------

Adrianne and Misha got along like they’d known each other their whole lives. She was outgoing and perky, funny and intelligent, so Jensen didn’t have any idea why he seemed to like her less after they’d spent the day with her. The four of them did a few touristy things before heading into the restaurant and cooking dinner for themselves. Jensen just wanted to test and make sure that she could cook as well as bake, whomever was picked for the internship needed to be well-rounded afterall.

Jeff was charming the way that a car salesman is charming; you couldn’t really put your finger on it but there was something almost _sleazy_ emitting from them. Nonetheless, the camera loved him, he was well-rounded in the kitchen and interesting to talk to, and his work thus far had been flawless. Not to mention his resume was very impressive. Jensen wasn’t sure if Jeff was making passes at him or if he was just like that with everyone, but it made him uncomfortable at the same time it was flattering.  He ended the day more wary of Jeff than when he’d started.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------

Jared’s day to get to know Jensen, and vice versa, didn’t start out great for Jared. He assumed that they'd be meeting at the restaurant and waited and waited and waited the day before for a call or email to let him know when to be there. When none came, he began to stress. When he began to stress, Sandy took him out for dinner. He ate too much and some dude at the bar sent him and Sandy over drinks trying to pick the both of them up, which - ew gross- didn’t work, fell asleep and woke up mildly hungover to JENSEN FREAKING ACKLES and a camera crew at his hotel room door.

Jensen looked him up and down, from bare toes to crazy bed-head hair, his smile never once fading from his handsome face. “Morning Jared. I guess… I guess you didn’t get the email we sent about us picking you up this morning. We’ll just wait downstairs while you get ready.” He turned and shooed the camera crew down the hall as Jared stood, frozen and half-dressed, in his hotel room doorway. Jensen threw a devastating smile over his shoulder as they waited by the elevator.

“I could use another hour and a few more cups of coffee anyway.”

Jared threw himself into the shower, rinsing off quickly before stumbling out and brushing his teeth as he pulled clothes on over skin that was still sticky-damp. He pulled a beanie on over his wet hair, cursing the fact that it was going to make the ends curl on his neck and around his ears but it couldn’t be helped- he was clearly running late and he didn’t want to leave Jensen waiting.

From there, the day went really well. He and Jensen talked food, and family, and seemed to have a lot in common, but Jared wasn’t sure if it was real at all or in his head. They went to the restaurant and cooked lunch together, because Dani wanted to make sure that he could cook too, even if it wasn’t what he was going to do all the time. As she put it, “one cannot live on pastries alone, despite what Jenny may think. Plus, he’s pretty well-rounded in the kitchen and the whole point of all this is to find someone that can keep up with him.”

When Jared arrived back to the hotel that night, Sandy pressed for details but Jared wasn’t ready to share. If all he got was one, solitary day with his idol and crush, then he wanted to keep it to himself for a little bit longer.

\------------------------------------------------------

Jensen sat on the porch at his parent’s house alone, having finally gotten rid of Misha and Dani and had time to think about the previous three days and the people that he’d tied himself up with.

Jeff was attractive and personable and talented with an impressive résumé that made Jensen want to learn from him, actually. However, there was something vaguely off-putting about being in Jeff’s physical presence that Jensen couldn’t nail down.

Adrianne was lovely. Perky and happy and beautiful and talented and eager. Every quality that he’d been looking for in an intern, she had. But he was finding it hard to lie to himself.

He sat back in the chair and let out a harsh breath, swallowing the last finger of whiskey in his glass as he thought back to the day before that he’d spent with Jared. Jared Padalecki was basically his dream man, practically made for him, and Jensen didn’t know how to handle that. He wanted, oh how he wanted.

Because Jensen had always been so socially shy and awkward, he’d always had a rich fantasy life and after just this short period of time, he could clearly picture Jared in his life and in his bed.

Or across the stainless steel prep table.

Or on his knees in the walk-in.

Whatever, Jensen could picture it clearly and he wanted it. However, when he’d interviewed Jared earlier, with his hair curling around his ears and that adorable beanie hat on his head, Jared had let slip that he’d learned a lot of his finer skills but watching YouTube videos of Jensen and that Jensen was “his idol.” Which, to Jensen, meant that all of the signals that he thought he’d been picking up from Jared were just hero worship and not flirting and therefore Jared was relegated to the spank bank and nothing more.

Could he work with Jared, day in and day out, wanting him so badly and never being able to have him? That was the question he was wrestling with the evening before the final phase of the competition. He had every intention of  making a fair and final judgement at the end of the competition, but the three finalists were making it difficult. He’d thought for sure that he would have a clear favorite. Jensen brought the glass to his lips again and tried to take a sip, only to remember that he’d finished it already.

“And if that wasn’t a sign that it’s time to go to bed, talking to yourself is another, Ackles.” Jensen laughed at himself and heaved himself from the chair on the porch. One more look up at the Texas night sky and he headed inside to get some sleep.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------

The blind basket challenge was nearing it’s end, there were ten minutes left on the clock, and Jensen’s heart was sinking fast. He didn’t know what he wanted the outcome to be, but the one that was appearing before his eyes was going to be hard for him. Dani was on his right and Misha was on his left, both watching and seeing, he was sure, the same things that he was seeing.

“Five minutes left competitors! You should be finishing plating and getting ready to move your creations to the judging table!” Dani shouted towards the three chefs moving through the kitchen.

The moment of truth was at hand.

“And time’s up! Hands away from your creations. One at a time we will call your names and you will bring your finished piece to the judging table. If you need help we do have a sous chef standing by to help lift.” Dani gestured expansively at Misha, who looked horrified in his expensive suit as he squawked, but Jensen just laughed at them both.

“Adrianne, please present your finished piece and tell us what it is.” Adrianne carried her cake over and it was beautiful, and technically sound, from what Jensen could see.

“My basket had cranberries, marshmallows and a note that my finished piece had to have a sugar sculpture included. So this is a lemon cranberry cake with a whipped, toasted marshmallow frosting and I’ve sculpted a Christmas tree out of sugar to go on top, because the whole thing seemed Christmas-like to me.” Jensen smiled at her; she was a clever girl and he liked her a lot.

“Jeff, please present your finished piece and tell us what it is.” Jeff gestured Misha to help him carry it to the table and he was right to do so- he’d done a massive amount of work in the time allotted. They placed the cake on the table and Misha came back around to stand with Jensen and Dani.

“I had a note saying that I could choose to work with either sugar or chocolate, blueberries, raspberries and Valrhona cocoa powder. So this is a cocoa cake with berry filling and blueberry buttercream and I sculpted with chocolate and pulled sugar.” Jeff was calm and confident and he had every right to be. If Jensen had to give a clear winner based on looks alone, Jeff would be declared the winner.

“Jared, please present your finished piece and tell us what it is.” Jared carried his creation over to the table on his own and Jensen’s stomach swooped with a mixture of emotions when he looked at it and Jared’s self-deprecating smile.

“I had navel oranges, strawberries and a note that said I had to work with chocolate. This is a vanilla bean cake with a strawberry and candied orange marmalade filling, an orange buttercream and a chocolate sculpture garnish.”

Technically, the decorating work on Jared’s was amateurish, everyone could see that. However, he worked his cute, perky little ass off (Jensen knew this because he may have been obsessively watching) and turned in a completed piece that did not fall apart. They started with his.

“Jared your cake is delicious. The flavors compliment each other wonderfully and the fact that you took the time to make a proper marmalade speaks wonders about you. Technically, your chocolate needs work. I can tell that the temper wasn’t at the right temperature because of the dullness of the chocolate just here” he pointed to a spot on the chocolate, “and the thickness is all over the place.”

“Yes, chef, I know. Thank you chef.” Jared’s voice broke as he took Jensen’s criticism and Jensen wanted to get on his knees and apologize, but he couldn’t. He forced himself to turn away, take a sip of water to clean his palate and sample Jeff’s offering.

Jeff’s cake was just as pleasing to the palate as it was visually appealing and Jensen couldn’t find a thing to criticise or comment on. Adrienne’s was not as perfect as Jeff’s, in fact her frosting had begun to slip under the hot tv lights, but still was excellent.

“Thank you all for competing in Tough Cookie, you’ve made this a difficult decision but as I stand here looking at all your faces and your work, ultimately the choice is clear.” Jensen began, keeping the emotion out of his voice. Though he’d only known these three people for a week, they were good people and talented pastry chefs and he was loathe to send two of them home.

“The winner of Tough Cookie and the one year contract as my intern is Jared Padalecki.” He announced, focusing on the pure, glowing joy spreading across Jared’s face and filing away the perfection of that dimpled smile for another day.

“How? I mean, mine wasn’t even close to as good as Adrienne’s and Jeff did amazing work.” Jared asked him breathily and Jensen took great pleasure in the answer.

“You’re right Jared, but what’s an internship? Why would I sign a contract with someone to be my intern that didn’t have anything to learn from me? I want this to be an apprenticeship as well as a partnership and, I’m sorry to say, that there’s little to nothing that I could teach Adrianne or Jeff. But I can teach you.”

\------------------------------------------

Jared forgot himself; he forgot the cameras and he forgot the other people. He rushed over to Jensen and wrapped his gangly arms around him, hugging him with tears in his eyes. He’d won. He squeezed tight until he heard an uncomfortable grunt and that brought him back around to where he was and who he was hugging.

“Oh god, this is so embarrassing. Any chance we can keep this off the tv broadcast and, I dunno, forget it ever happened? I’m so sorry chef, I just forgot myself.”

Jared couldn’t help but notice how good Jensen smelled, or how good he felt in his arms. He took a breath and stepped back, forcing himself to let go and leave it alone. He was about to sign a contract to work for this man for a year, despite what teenage fantasies might be running though his head at the time, Jensen Ackles was officially off limits.

Spank bank material only. Licking him open over a stainless steel prep table. Or letting Jared suck him off in the walk in. Using crisco to grease his cock as he- Jared cut the line of thinking off, but not before he realized that he had a serious chef kink. Or was it just a sex-in-the-kitchen kink?

He accepted thanks from Adi, Misha and a hug and squeal of congrats from Dani. Jeff vanished and Jared assumed that was the last he’d see of him.  Mark Sheppard called he and Jensen into the dining room to smile for the cameras and sign the official contract and afterwards, Jared was given a few minutes alone in the kitchen.

That was when Jeff showed back up.

“Hey, kid, congrats. You’ll learn a lot from him.” Jeff said, coming into the kitchen.

Jared nodded his thanks and turned so that the walk-in was behind him. He was looking at the station that he’d used for the competition and feeling so much that he couldn’t have put it into words if he’d tried. He never noticed that Jeff hadn’t left.

“Plus, wow, a lot of people are going to enjoy seeing that smile on camera. Not to mention that cute, perky ass of yours.” The words sent a chill up Jared’s spine, and not the good kind. He spun around to find that Jeff was very much in his space.

Jared tried to step backwards and get some space between them but he’d forgotten that the walk-in was right behind him and he was up against a wall, literally. “Um, what...I thought, you know, the way you were looking at Jensen.” Jared stuttered, not liking the situation he was in and wishing that someone, anyone, would come in and save him.

“Oh he’s nice to look at too, for sure. But, a little older than I usually go for. You, however, you’re just perfect. Just barely ripe.” Jeff hissed the words in, what Jared assumed was meant to be a seductive tone, but all it did was make Jared wrinkle his nose in disgust. Before he could retort, however, Jeff’s lips were covering his own and Jeff’s body was pressing into his own.

\------------------------------------------------------

Jensen wandered into the kitchen looking for Jared, only to see Jeff had backed him up against the walk-in and was kissing him. Pretty enthusiastically. He swallowed down his disappointment, blinked his eyes to clear them and knocked a bowl off the nearest table to make some noise and break apart the lovebirds.

“Oh, hey, sorry man, I was just.., heh, congratulating your boy here.” Jeff said with a smirk and a lick of his kiss bruised lips. Jensen’s eyes darted to Jared who looked relieved and alarmed to see him.

“It’s all good, congrats were in order. Jared, I need you to come with me and go over some details, travel plans, that kind of thing. Whenever you’re done, of course. Take your time.” Jensen waved a hand in the air, attempting for airy and light hearted and falling flat.

“NO! I mean, no, Jeff was just leaving so I’m ready to go with you now.” Jared was stumbling over his words and practically pushing Jeff away from him in his haste, probably worried that Jensen would get mad if he took too long.

That couldn’t be farther from the truth; the longer Jared took with Jeff the longer Jensen had to get his head together and stop feeling hurt. It’s not like he really had a chance with Jared anyway, but, he swallowed and looked up into Jared’s young, earnest face, who could work with this man for even a little while and not crush on him?

“Oh. Okay, well I was going to ask if you wanted to come over to my place to go over the details but it looks like you have plans and I don’t want to keep you.” Jensen lied, he did want to keep Jared. He wanted to keep him away from Jeff but mostly he wanted to keep him for himself. So, he had mixed emotions when Jared said he’d love to go to Jensen’s place to talk over the non-tv important details. They both looked mutely over at Jeff, who was still standing there and wasn’t getting an invite to come with them, Jensen didn’t care if he and Jared were gonna get married.

“So, yeah, thanks for the congrats. It’s been real. Good luck to you.” Jared blurted out awkwardly and Jeff laughed, ruffled Jared’s hair, shook Jensen’s hand and walked away.

“So you and Jeff, huh? Did that happen during the contest or…” Jensen trailed off, trying to get details as they walked out of the restaurant and he led them down the side streets towards his parents house.

“Me and… Jeff? Oh God no, that was just-he-he cornered me and kissed me to congratulate me or some shit. He’s not… uh, really my type.” Jared was so cute when he was stuttering and stumbling over his words, Jensen just wanted to pick him up and cuddle him. Amongst other things, that is.

“Oh? I guess you like people closer to your own age and you don’t seem to be the type into aggressive people, like he was. But, that’s- sorry. That’s not my place to say that. Oh, look here we are, mom and dad’s place, or home sweet home, for the time I’m in Richardson anyway.” Jensen babbled nervously as he gestured Jared into the front door.

They skipped through the small but tastefully decorated living room and into the kitchen where Jared stood, looking nervous but awed by the gourmet appliances and Jensen stuck his head into the fridge. “You hungry? I didn’t really eat today or, apparently, remember to ask Dani to hit the supermarket. You too fancy if I order pizza delivery? We can sit out on the back porch and talk and eat?” He popped his head around the side of the fridge door to look at Jared just in time to see that the kid had been staring at his ass.

Jared’s eyes flew to meet his and his skin flushed a deep red with embarrassment. “I love pizza, that sounds great.”

“Okay, meat lover’s good? And I’ll have them deliver some Dr. Pepper too, since all I have is beer and I'm not ready to contribute to your delinquency like that quite yet.” He snatched his phone out of his pocket and dialed up his parents’ best friend Jim Beaver, who ran the only pizza joint in town that was worth eating in. “Hey, Uncle Jim, it’s Jensen. I know I should’ve called before but… you don’t want Food Network anywhere near your place you’ve said… I know but I just… yeah, we picked a winner. Okay, well can you bring me the Jens and some Dr. Pepper and I’ll introduce you? No, I don’t mean to sound high and mighty. Yes mom and dad taught me better than-look, he’s here and he’s listening to everything I say can you just do this one thing for me and then you can embarrass me in person Uncle Jim?”

Jensen’s face was on fire; he really wanted that pizza now, but he already regretted calling his uncle to get it.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------

“And then, he colored in his tiny chef jacket with rainbow markers and came to ask us why Rainbow Brite had to be a girl thing and did we think she could cook?” Jim guffawed with laughter and Jared couldn’t help but join in, the story was adorable and the man’s mood was infectious.

Part of him felt bad because Jensen was clearly not enjoying the stories that his uncle had to tell nearly as much as he was, but the image was just too cute to ignore.

“Alright Uncle Jim, alright. Man, I need Jared to respect me just a little bit and I think, if you stay, he won't. Plus, we gotta talk shop for a little bit.”

Jared bit down on the impulse to worshipfully announce that he’d always respect Jensen, because he didn’t want to make it weird. Jensen was interested in him as one thing; an intern. Jared, for all his starry-eyed romantic notions, was having trouble keeping it in his head. However, it was only the first day. He tuned back into the conversation in time to hear “uncle Jim” insist that Jensen come home more often, and that he was to bring Jared with him when he did so.

“It was good to meet you kid. You do what he tells you, yeah? Unless it’s really outta line, then you call me or his daddy and we will take care of his highness for you. And, uh, I was gonna say keep growing up big and strong but damn, you don’t need to get any bigger boy.” He held out a calloused hand for Jared to shake, and he did, making sure to keep his wrist tight and his squeeze hard, just like he was taught by his daddy.

“That’s a good handshake kid. Handshake like that, makes me believe that you’ll be alright. You two kids get to talking now, gotta get back to my kitchen and make sure that that damn fool Steven didn’t burn it all down.”

They were quiet until they’d heard Jim’s beat up old car start up and drive down the street. “You’ll have to, “Jensen broke the companionable silence, “forgive my family. My real family and my cooking family they’re all really… exuberant. Weird and well, you know, right? You’ve worked in kitchens before.” He paused, looking off into the distance for a moment and Jared took the chance to look his fill at Jensen, close up.

Close up he was, amazingly, even more gorgeous than he was on tv. His skin was flawless, with the artful, sexy stubble on the chin that looked like it’d been carved from marble. His eyes were the most amazing shades of green and when they focused on Jared, he thought he would just melt away in them. And the smile lines at the corners of his eyes and the corners of his amazing, kissable, pink lips. Jared blinked himself out of his contemplation to see that Jensen was looking at him expectantly.

“Oh God, I’m so sorry, what?”

Jensen laughed lightly, “It’s been a long, damn day huh? I’m a little out of it myself. What I asked was is it alright if we don’t head to your hometown till the day after tomorrow? My folks are coming home in the morning and if you and I aren’t here I will never hear the end of it. I figure, you can meet them, then we can head to your hometown and meet your folks and then be off. The network doesn’t need us for a week, so we have some time.”

 _No, none of that sounds okay. I need the cameras in front of me or I might just press my luck and try to jump you, my sexy, sexy boss_ ; is what he thought. What came out of his mouth was markedly different. “Yeah, that sounds great. I’d love to meet your parents and thank them for letting us use their restaurant, that was actually a big thrill for me. And my folks will be glad to meet you before you take me travelling with you for a year. Hey, uh, I never did ask, do you have a home base? Where do you even shoot your show?”

“Oh, well I live in Denver and we shoot the show on a tv lot there. I do, we will, travel a lot though. And the show is gonna change while you’re with me, less of a focus on pastries and more of a focus on what an old-school apprenticeship is like. I know we called it an internship on the show and everything but you’ll be my apprentice really.”

Jared nodded his head in agreement; that was what he wanted afterall. He bit his lip and tried to figure out the most professional way to ask the other question that was on his mind but Jensen beat him to it.

“So here’s the deal man, you’re not getting paid for this. When I say old school, what I mean is that the network feels that “the privilege of working so closely with me plus to exposure of being on tv is more than enough compensation” which is some major league bullshit. I fought against that but ultimately I have to pick my battles and that couldn’t be a big one. So…” He trailed off looking vaguely uncomfortable and Jared was on high alert. Whatever was making Jensen look like that didn’t seem like it could be a good thing.

“So, since they’re not paying you and, I shit you not, they won’t allow me to pay you out of my own damn pocket,  I’m footing the bill for you for the next year. Which is cool, I signed up for this. But, it means that you’ll essentially be living with me. You and I will be together nearly twenty four-seven. I get it if that’s not okay or what you signed up for, but tell me now.”

Jared thought for a minute; he had to choose his words carefully because not only is that an amazing privilege for him, but it was also, basically, a wet-dream come true.

“No, that’s… look. I’m super nervous around you and I think that that kind of living arrangement can help me get over that. I worry that you’ll get annoyed with me though.” Jared stuttered and blushed, ducking his head and letting his hair fall over his face.

“No, I’m pretty sure we don’t need to worry about that. Well, that’s most of everything I wanted to go over with you tonight.” Jensen paused, looking up at the house before looking back at Jared, “I have a guest room here that you’re welcome to. I dunno if you still have-”

Jared interrupted quickly, “Oh, no, my friend’s parents paid for the hotel room and she’ll be waiting for me. She’s checking out tomorrow though, so if we aren’t heading to meet my folks until the day after…”

“Oh yeah, totally. Mom and dad will love the extra time with you. So I’ll come pick you up at your hotel in the morning and we can go from there? You need me to walk you there now, or do you know where you’re going?” The offer was so sincere, and Jared felt eerily like he’d been on a date, but he knew he had to turn it down. He needed some time to think, and he had too much trouble thinking when Jensen was in his space. He refused the offer and walked back to the hotel alone, where Sandy and Adi were waiting for him to tell them all about it.

He told them about the contract signing and about Jeff and about living with Jensen for the next year, but the more personal things he kept to himself.

And that began Jared’s internship with Jensen Ackles and, by extension, the Food Network.

==================================================================

After the first month of the apprenticeship, during which they’d spent most of their time in Denver and on the Food Network sound stages, Jared lost a lot of his initial nervousness and awkwardness. Jensen was able to see just how graceful and talented Jared was in the kitchen and Jared was able to to focus enough on the work that he learned a lot of the things that he’d wanted to learn in the first place. There were still stumbling blocks.

Living together was a trial. Neither one of them was prepared to spend quite that much time with the other in close proximity. Jensen, accustomed to living with roommates, was very guarded about certain things and very unconcerned about other things. Like making sure he was fully dressed when he walked around the apartment.  It took Jared two months to not pop a woody every time Jensen wandered around in his boxer briefs or just his towel after a shower.

Jared had never lived with anyone but his parents and, though he was not totally incompetent, at eighteen he was hardly self-sufficient. It took about six weeks before he remembered to put his dishes in the dishwasher himself and to not leave his dirty laundry until the last minute. Basically, it took him six weeks to remember that his mother wasn’t in the next room waiting to clean up after him.

Six months into the internship, everyone besides them had noticed something else. Every professional kitchen has a certain amount of sexual tension. The small spaces, the people from all the corners of society, physically heated environment and frequent drug and alcohol abuse mix together to create a space where no one is safe from the, mostly harmless, sexual tension.

When Jared and Jensen worked together it was cloying; almost suffocating and it was not immediately obvious where the source of it was.

Yes, they touched each other often, but that was something expected in the kind of relationship they shared. A bump of hips here to knock someone out of the way, a touch of a hand there to correct the grip on the utensil there. Personal space is a laughable concept in a professional kitchen. But there was something more. Some deeper meaning behind each of their touches.

Yes, they made sexual remarks. When the cameras weren't rolling, Jensen was just as foul-mouthed as any other cook, especially once he and Jared were over their ‘getting-to-know-you’ period, and Jared quickly learned to give as good as he got.

Jared’s language and innuendos were helped along by Chad Murray, Misha’s assistant. Chad was, in Jensen’s opinion, an idiot douchebag who was a bad influence, but Jared thought he was funny and Misha said he was amazing with clients, so he wasn’t about to go anywhere.

But it seemed that there was a deeper meaning to the taunts and innuendos thrown back and forth.

\------------------------------------------------------------

“They have got to sleep together. Seriously, this shit is killing me.” Dani spat towards Misha as the two of them watched Jared and Jensen giggle and flirt in the kitchen. “Seriously. I mean, the concept is hot as fuck but this lovey-dovey flirting shit is making me nauseous as fuck.” She tipped her coffee cup against her lip and took a long swallow, smiling at Chad who was making googoo eyes at her.

“Yes, we need to get them laid, with each other preferably, and we need to get Chad laid so that he stops following you around like a puppy. He’s my assistant Dani, you put those distracting tits away when you’re here or he’ll never get any work done!” Misha gestured frustratedly between Dani’s cleavage and Chad’s besotted face.

“Can’t help it if the kid’s got good taste Misha. Besides, I do recall you being very fond of my distracting tits once upon a time.” Dani protested, but pulled her cardigan closed over her undershirt none the less as Misha went very quiet.  
“So, how do we get our Jays to get together finally?

\------------------------------------------------------------------

Jared was in his own personal hell, masquerading as heaven. He worked with his idol, day in and day out. They had fantastic chemistry and he didn’t think that he was fooling himself when he thought they were becoming friends. He was learning everything that he’d wanted to learn and making connections that would help him succeed for the rest of his career.

He was also an 19 year old man that was living with his crush, who happened to be his boss, and the most gorgeous thing he’d ever seen. And not just when he was cleaned up for tv. Jensen actually looked best, to Jared, when he was hanging out at their shared apartment with holey jeans and bare feet and a ratty tee-shirt and no product in his hair. Or in the morning when he was still mostly asleep as Jared passed him a cup of coffee. Or when he wandered out of the shared bathroom in nothing but a towel and Jared had to sit there silently talking to his dick telling it not to get hard.

Being at work wasn’t a lot better, as far as Jared’s libido was concerned. His first fantasies involving Jensen were certainly centered around being in the kitchen together, and chef whites, while they should be a turn off and were, in fact, a turn off for 99.99 percent of people in the world, Jensen in chef whites was probably the sexiest thing Jared could imagine.

And he’d seen Jensen in nothing but a towel more than once.

Working in the kitchen so closely together, so well together, was messing with Jared’s head. There were times when he would swear that Jensen had been leaning into him for more than just whatever Jared had been passing to him at the time. He thought he’d caught Jensen staring at his ass more than once, and he knew that Jensen was watching his lips the other day.

“So why, Chad? WHYYYYYYY?” Jared whined into his nachos.

Chad snorted at him, waving a mozzarella stick in the air as he did so. “Why are you too much of a pussy to man up and grope him? I dunno. Why are you torturing yourself, and me, with this same old routine? Again, man, I dunno. You should take my advice man, get yourself laid. You’ll see things much more clearly without all that MSB clogging up your brain.”

Jared paused in his self pity with a puzzled look on his face, “MSB?” He asked with a mouthful of half-chewed nachos.

“Massive Sperm Backup dude, cause I have to assume that if you’re too much of a giant pussy to man up and go for what you want, that you’re probably too much of a pussy to clean out the old plumbing with your fucking dream dude in the next bedroom. And, c’mon man, you’re a professional here, keep the food on your plate or in your mouth.” Chad sneered, waving a napkin at Jared and the cheese all over him.

“Shuddup, fucker. Look, my plumbing is just fine and I do not have massive sperm backup!” he nearly shouted, then realized that he and Chad were definitely NOT alone in the restaurant when he immediately got a number of dirty looks thrown his way. In fact, Jared thought about just that morning when he’d come out of his bedroom only to see that Jensen was cooking breakfast in his underwear, again, and he’d turned back around, shut his door,  turned on his radio and thrown himself onto his bed, jerking his cock and fingering himself like it had been his fucking life on the line.

And maybe he had a fantasy that involved Jensen knocking on his bedroom door and just coming in without waiting for a reply, and seeing what he was doing. And stripping off those stupidly sexy boxer briefs and tackling Jared down onto the bed.  And _maybe_ he had a healthy fantasy life.

“It’s not pathetic, it’s not!” He said, not realizing that he was talking aloud again. He looked across the table at Chad, who was frozen with a judgemental eyebrow up and his mouth closed. “Don’t look at me in that tone of eyebrow, dude. Jensen does that and I think I have an eyebrow kink now.”

“Dude, I’m eating.” Chad replied, “I don’t wanna hear about your freaky gay kitchen kinks.”

“Regardless, Chad, I can’t just make a move on my boss and landlord. Plus he’s like fifteen years older than me and super famous and can have anyone he wants and he’s not interested in me. And I’m fucked because I’m not interested in anyone but him.”

“No, Jay, the point is that you’re NOT fucked because all you can see is him. Jay, asshole, even Misha and Dani can see that he’s just as hot for you as you are for him and all this mutual pining is making us all sick. He will NEVER make the first move, you have to sack up and do it yourself.”

“Well then, I guess it won’t happen, cause I’m not doing that and ruining the best thing that’s ever happened to me by making it weird when he has to turn me down. And he would turn me down. You don’t know him like I do.”

Chad snorted softly and turned his face back down to his food, unwilling to look at his friend in such self-inflicted pain, especially when he knew Jay was wrong. It was then that a plan began to form in Chad’s mind. He grabbed his phone while Jay was distracted and shot off a text to Misha.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jensen was pretty sure that the universe was trying to kill him with sexual frustration. He knew, when he’d chosen Jared for his internship, that he was attracted to the kid. As time passed, he’d thought that the attraction would lessen, instead it only seemed to be getting stronger as he got to know Jared in and out of the kitchen.

He was, physically, everything that Jensen wanted in a partner. Gorgeous from top to bottom; hair to sink his fingers into and pull, a long neck to kiss and lick and bite and mark up, a chest and stomach that he could roll out dough on, legs for days, giant hands and feet leading Jensen to the assumption that the kid was packing some serious dick between his delicious thighs.

Jensen wanted. So he threw himself into his work, only to realize that Jared was there too and it made him even more enticing. He was an excellent student, always paid attention and never questions Jensen even when they both knew that Jensen was doing something wrong. Jared was a thing of beauty in the kitchen, something amazing to behold. He was quick witted and long ceased to be afraid or intimidated by Jensen or Misha and Dani’s usual intimidators, her chest, failed her because Jared was gayer than even Jensen.

He was perfect and Jensen hated him just a little bit because of it. Because he couldn’t have him. Jared was off limits. He was Jensen’s intern; his employee. He was also so much younger that it made Jensen fee like some kind of…

“What’s the male equivalent of a cougar? You know those older ladies that like twinky boys?” He asked Dani and Misha as he stared across the soundstage where Jared was talking and laughing with Chad and Mark.

“A pervert?” Misha offered, as he scoffed at the way that Jensen was drooling. Neither noticed that Dani was on her phone, laughing silently.

“Well, according to Urban Dictionary there’s two words for it: manther or rhino.” Dani snorted inelegantly and turned her phone’s screen to the two men’s doubtful faces.

“...I think I like pervert better than either but especially MANTHER. What the fuck is that?” Jensen whined, his attention briefly diverted from his incessant longing.

“I dunno who comes up with this shit but sometimes I just wanna shake their hand. Haha, manther. That’s not ever getting old. Now, why may I ask, is my Jenny asking about this? Could it have something to do with the not so itty bitty, but oh so young intern that he has a pants-busting crush on?”

“Shut up Dani, you don’t know everything.”

“Real mature.” Dani deadpanned as she pointed a finger right in Jensen’s face. “We have been friends for a really long time Jenny, and known each other for longer than that. We have shared everything, including bodily fluids that one time that we don’t talk about so listen up. MAN THE FUCK UP. Ask that boy out or ask to reach into his pants or just reach into his freaking pants and get grabby with the Padacock like we all know you want to. Cause if you don’t, someone is gonna get there first and you are just pathetic when you’re pining. I don’t even want to think about what you’re be like if he was taken.”

Jensen tried to picture it; life with Jared even more unobtainable than he already was. Jared who smiled that heart stopping smile for someone else. Jared living with someone else. Jared cooking with someone else. It was horrible, even more horrible than the thought of trying to ask Jared if he’d like to have something more than their current relationship.

“...I’ll think about it.”

“Don’t think too long Jen, someone is gonna snatch the kid up but good. Now, we need to talk about the Boston Food show. We said we’d be there with a booth and a presentation in one of the halls.” Misha droned on and Jensen forced his mind away from Jared and back to work.

\------------------------------------------------

Jared had always been a not-so-secret history nerd, so when Misha told him they they’d be doing the food show in Boston and staying there for a full week, he pulled out his museum bucket list and prepared himself a secret itinerary. Whenever they traveled, he knew that they would find time for each of them to do their own thing for a little while, so he figured he’d have at least a day to himself to see the museum of fine arts, and take a Duck Boat tour and maybe even catch a game at Fenway park, though he wasn’t a fan of the Red Sox as much as he wanted to see one of the last remaining classic ballparks.

He didn’t tell Jensen of his secret itinerary, though he did tell Chad and faced weeks of teasing from his blond, so-called friend.

“What a nerd. The original Cheers is there! Why would you want to go to a museum when you could hit the bars?”

“Well, for starters, I’m only nineteen and the last time I checked the drinking age is twenty one, dumbass.” Jared replied as he finished packing his bags. The car would arrive any minute to take them to the airport.

Chad waved a hand airily as he lounged on Jared’s bed, “You’re on tv dude, no one cares how old you actually are.”

“I’ll think about it you reprobate. Now get off my stuff, the car just honked outside. It’s time to go.” And Jared thought that was the end of it, because he was sure that he’d be able to fend off Chad begging to go out and hit the bars, but he was wrong.

The third night they were in Boston, high off a very successful presentation of his sugar sculpting skills at the food show, Chad begged Jared to go out with him and Jared fell before his friend’s pathetic begging.

They started at a dance club, one that was eighteen and over and led Jared to think that he was safe. But two drinks and countless dances later Chad was leading him out to another bar where they encountered a familiar face. One that Jared wasn’t prepared to deal with when he was already more than a little drunk.

“Jared, so good to see you kid. Loved your presentation at the food show today, you’ve come a long way.” Jeff smiled as he slid into the booth next to Jared, who was at the happy, smiling stage of drunkenness.

“JEFF! Wow, thank you! It must have been really good for you to say something, cause you’re really good. Either that or you still want in my pants, ahahaha!” Jared slurred, leaning over towards Jeff as he flashed his dimples at him.

“A little bit of both I’d expect. You did get more attractive and more talented since I last saw you kid. How's the internship treating you? Is Jensen taking care of you properly?” Jeff’s tone was all dark innuendo and Jared didn’t notice a thing, smiling and happy to answer as only a drunken person can; with complete honesty.

“I’m learning so much, I love it. An-an-and I really love Jensen but he doesn’t really take care of me. He walks around all sexy and mostly naked and my poor dick needs someone else to take care of it, you know? I’m nineteen, not a baby! You’re sexy and you care about my dick, right? I mean, you’re almost old enough to be my dad but that would be okay as long as you don’t want me to call you daddy.” Jared babbled, totally oblivious to the way that Jeff’s eyes darkened and his hands began to twitch towards Jared in the darkness underneath the table.

“Nah, I’d never make you call me daddy. I’m not into that. You seem like you’re done drinking tonight. Can I take you home-or rather, back to your hotel. Where are you staying Jared?” He asked, already guiding Jared’s pliant body out of the booth and towards the door.

“I dunno where I’m staying, can I just go home with you? You’ll take care of me, right?” Jared leaned his head down on Jeff’s shoulder, suddenly sleepy and ready to be out of there. He winced when the move made his neck crack painfully.

“Course I will, kid. Of course I will.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

Jensen woke up the morning of their chocolate demonstration in a very good mood, They’d killed it the day before and he’d been so impressed by Jared’s work that he’d tried to ask him out to dinner to celebrate, but Chad had beat him to it, so he’d ended up just staying in and moping, according to Dani. But, today was a new day.

He went to Jared’s room and knocked on the door, waiting and smiling at the people who walked by. A few minutes went by and he knocked again, softly calling out for Jared to wake up. When no one answered again, he pulled the spare room key card from his wallet and let himself into Jared’s room, feeling guilty the whole while.

No matter how much he wanted to, back at his apartment, even though it was solidly his apartment, he never passed the doorway to Jared’s room, even when Jared was home. He didn’t allow himself to snoop. This time, however, it turned out to be a good thing that he had access, because Jared wasn’t there.

He called Jared’s cell and got no answer. He called Chad and Misha and Dani and was about to call Mark before he realized what a bad idea that was and put his phone down to think for a moment. No one knew where Jared was, and it wasn’t like him to vanish without speaking to someone. It really wasn’t like him to not answer his phone. They were in a new city, one that Jared was unfamiliar with and, despite the fact that he wasn’t a child and he was easily over six feet tall, something could’ve happened to him.

Jensen had just built himself up to the point where he would call the police and report Jared missing when the door opened and Jared stumbled in.

“Jared where-what?” He started but cut himself off when Jeff Morgan followed his clearly disheveled intern into the room. Jared was listing to the right and about to stumble and Jensen jumped up and went to his side.

“You reek Jared. Are you drunk? What were you thinking? Are you suddenly old enough to go out drinking?” He grumbled angrily as he dumped the tall man-boy onto his bed.

“Yes chef. I wasn’t chef, No chef. I’m sorry chef.” Jared rattled off, unwilling or unable to even open his eyes. Jensen could feel Jeff’s eyes on his back and it raised his hackles.

“Well, we can talk about this later. For now, shower and sleep it off, you’re clearly in no condition to help me out this afternoon. We will discuss it later. It’s a good thing Jeff found you and was good enough to help you back to the hotel.” He forced himself to turn and face Jeff, hand held out to shake.

“Thanks. Are you staying here too? Here for the food show?”

“Oh no, I mean, yeah I’m here for the food show, excellent presentation yesterday by the way, but no I’m not staying here. Jared didn’t exactly know where he was staying last night so I took him back to my room.” Jeff’s eyes darkened as he looked at the disheveled boy in the bed. “It was no trouble at all. We had fun didn’t we Jare?”

“Mmmmph” Was the only reply from the lump on the bed and Jensen began to see red. There was no way that Jared could’ve consented to anything the night before if this was the state he was still in at nine in the morning. He chewed at the inside of his lip in indecision; the only thing he knew for sure was that he had to get Jeff out of there right away.

“Well, really, I can’t thank you enough. But, I gotta read this kid the riot act and then make sure that no one at the network catches wind, yeah?” He ushered Jeff to the door, though the man clearly didn’t want to leave.

“Great to see you though, really. We should grab a drink without the kid before you leave and talk some shop okay? Bye.” Jensen none-so-gently shut the door in Jeff’s face and turned to his wayward intern.

Jared was drooling into the bedspread, his hair was a mess and his shirt mis-buttoned. The smell of alcohol and Jeff’s cologne wafted from him and Jensen had to steel himself to go closer. He needed to make sure that Jared hadn’t been taken advantage of. As mad as he was, Jared was still his responsibility.

“Jared? Jared, I need you to wake up and talk to me a little bit, and then you can sleep, okay? Jared? Do you remember anything about last night?” He shook the kid’s shoulder gently, knowing how unpleasant it was to be shaken when totally shitfaced.

He didn’t want to be puked on.

“Yeah I r’memb’r. Stupid Chad, m’kin me drunk. Din’ wanna drink. Wanna go to mus’m. Jen’s gon be mad.” Jared mumbled out, mostly into the pillow, but Jensen understood enough that his anger faded mostly away. He knew that Chad was a bad influence.

“I’m not mad. I just need to make sure that you’re okay. Do you remember what happened when Jeff took you to his hotel?” He asked, his heart in his throat. If he had to press charges against Jeff he would without hesitation, but it would create a scandal for the network and he didn’t think that Jared was prepared for that mess.

“Hah, wanted me but I said no. Want Jensen, but he doesn’t want me. Gonna die of blue balls. Ahhhhh, Jensen is so sexy.” Jared wiggled his whole body into the bed and Jensen gave himself a chance that he rarely let himself have to just look his fill. The kid’s face was half smashed into his pillow, the part that was exposed was the side with the mole next to his nose. Soft brown hair fell across his young face and Jensen felt a fierce pang of longing. He couldn’t allow himself to take Jared’s words at face value; he was too drunk and tired to know what he was saying.

So, he let himself do a little more. He helped Jared off with his shoes (not his pants, Jensen wasn’t ready for that) and shifted him to a more central location on the bed. He brushed the soft hair off Jared’s face and tucked it behind his ear before placing a soft, barely there kiss on the mole beside Jared’s nose.

Then he left the room before he could do anything else.

\-----------------------------------------------

Jared woke up with the hangover from hell, memories of crying to Jeff about how badly he wanted Jensen, and vague memories of saying something along those same lines to the man himself. Then, he rushed to the bathroom to throw up. He forced himself into the shower, brushed his teeth three times, texted Chad to tell him what a worthless friend he was and just as he was feeling good enough to actually pull on clothes instead of sit around in a damp towel, there was a knock on his door.

“Coming. Sorry, just gimme a sec…” He trailed off as he pulled open the door to see Jensen, looking amazing as always, holding a bottle of water, a bottle of Mountain Dew and a paper bag that smelled like heaven.

“So, thought you might need a hangover cure; the greasiest burger I could find, a bottle of Mountain Dew and a bottle of water.”

He took the items silently and gestured for Jensen to come inside and tried not to stare at Jensen’s ass in his perfectly fitted jeans. He shut the door and followed behind, placing the items on the table before turning to his boss with a plea in his eyes.

“Please don’t fire me or void our contract. I know I’m not old enough to go out drinking. Chad taking me out is no excuse and neither is the fact that I didn’t once get carded last night. Just, please, give me another chance.” He pleaded, staring into Jensen’s kind, green eyes.

“Stop. Sit down, eat your food and listen to me for a few minutes, alright?”

He nodded and sat down, chugging the soda before he even opened the bag with the burger in it, his mouth watering the entire time. Jensen stayed silent until he had a mouthful of food.

“This industry… it can chew up and spit people out. It’s not for the weak, I think you know that. Yes, I’m saddened by the fact that you went out and got drunk last night, but it’s more about the fact that no one besides Chad knew where you were. You should’ve texted me. I’m your employer, yes, but I’m also your roommate and your friend ninety nine percent of the time. I worry about you because I care about you, Jared. Plus, your mother...she’s scary. She’d kill me if anything happened to you. Even when you came back with Jeff this morning, I was still worried. Did he-did he take advantage of you at all?” Jensen was twisting his fingers together nervously, but his face was an open book of worry. Jared swallowed the mouthful of burger and looked at Jensen dead in the eye.

“He wanted it-me. He offered and tried a few times but no, he didn’t… didn’t get anything from me.” He replied, nervously watching for Jensen’s reaction. He thought he’d already told the older man this that morning in a drunken mumble.

He was pretty sure he’d told Jensen a lot that morning in a drunken mumble but, and maybe hungover and wearing a towel wasn’t the best time to be this brave, but Jared was tired of wanting. Tired of fantasizing. If he got turned down, then so be it, at least it would be over.

“I want you; I have for a while now. It was hero worship and a celebrity crush to start with, I’m not gonna lie to you but…” He screwed up his courage and looked Jensen right in the eye, “It’s been a lot more than that for a long time.”

“Jared,” It was barely a breath but he took it for permission and stepped closer. Close enough that Jensen’s knee wrinkled the towel between his legs. He looked down and waited. The air was charged with emotion, sexual tension and Jared was breathless with it.

“There’s so much I should say. I’m too old for you. I’m your boss. Hell, especially the fact that you deserve better. But…” Jensen looked up at him and Jared thought his heart would burst with the emotion there. “It has been a long time since I wanted anything the way that I want you.” With that, Jensen brushed his fingertips across Jared’s naked stomach, curling them into the top of his towel and tugging Jared down into his lap.

“You’re an adult, you’re sober and you’re telling me that you want this. That’s good enough for me.” Their faces were so close that Jensen’s lips brushed his as he spoke, in the biggest tease of Jared’s life. He tilted his head and leaned forward to close the last breath of air that fully separated them, and pressed his lips to Jensen’s.

He felt Jensen’s fingers snake into his hair and tug, making him groan and part his lips for Jensen’s tongue. Jensen kissed like he had all the time in the world, and like he knew that he could get Jared to come with only his kisses.

“God, how do your lips feel even more amazing than I pictured?” He moaned the words into the stubbled jaw before him, making his way over to Jensen’s earlobe.

“You thought about this, huh? Maybe practiced? You think I didn’t see all those smudges on my poster on the back of your bedroom door when we visited your house?” Jensen asked with a smirk in his voice and Jared was brought up sputtering.

“What? No, I would never-HEY!” He shouted as Jensen flipped them, so Jared landed on his back on the bed with an “oomph.” They both froze when they realized that his towel had come undone, the whole of his leg exposed to Jensen’s greedy eyes. The air was charged as they both looked down at the exposed skin of Jared’s hip.

Slowly, so slowly that Jared could have stopped it if he wanted to, Jensen reached down and brushed the pale strip of skin before he turned his hands and slipped his fingertips underneath the flap of Jared’s towel.

“Can I?” He asked softly. Jared bit his lip in indecision.

“You first.” He finally answered and held his breath as Jensen grinned, and crawled backwards off the bed until he was on his feet. Jared propped himself up on his elbows to watch, the towel slipping further and clearly showing the outline of his engorged cock.

Jensen slipped his tee-shirt off over his head before his hands flew to the fly of his jeans. This much Jared had seen before, but never like this. He felt a sweat break out over his whole body and realized that he was still holding his breath. He didn’t let it out until Jensen had peeled the jeans off his hips and shimmied them down to the floor, leaving him in only his skin-hugging black boxer briefs. He tucked his thumbs into the waist of them and looked at Jared, a teasing smile on his lips.

“These too?” He asked even as he tugged one side down, giving Jared a painfully tantalizing peek at pale, freckled skin and ginger-tinted pubic hair. His mouth dropped open and he let out a groan. His hips rocked upwards, his cock almost hurting from the soft brush of the terry cloth across it.

“I guess that’s a yes. And then, I can have your towel?”Jensen assured and Jared, eager to move things along even if he didn’t know what he was doing, nodded so fast he heard his neck crack. Jensen wiggled his hips, shifting his briefs down slowly to expose perfect freckled skin to Jared’s hungry eyes.

\---------------------------------------------

Despite his eagerness, and the heavy with hunger atmosphere of the last few moments, Jensen wanted to keep this light and happy. So, after he finally dropped his briefs to the floor, he put his fists on his hips and arched his back in the classic “Superman pose” to let Jared look his fill and to get a laugh.

“I love the sound of you laughing.” He sighed goofily as he slipped back onto the bed on his knees, his dick bobbing with the movement. He plucked at the edge of Jared’s towel in an unspoken question and waited for Jared to nod his head before he finally got to remove the towel and see the cock he’d been dreaming about.

Boy, was it worth the wait.

Long, thick, uncut and as pink as Jared’s kiss-bruised lips, Jensen made up his mind from one look that he wanted that inside him as soon as possible. When he said this to Jared, the kid’s hazel eyes rolled back into his head and his hips popped up into the air, making his cock bounce. Jensen couldn’t stop himself, he curled his fingers around the shaft and stroked to watch the foreskin expose and then hide the head.

“You ever fuck anyone with this big cock before?” He was not normally one for too much talking before sex; usually he was far too shy and awkward for that. Something about Jared was making him feel bold.

“N-n-no.” Jared shook his head and Jensen rewarded the answer with another pump of his fist. His own dick twitched hard at being the first one to have Jared’s cock like that. He took his other hand and grasped Jared’s fingers.

“You ever finger anyone before?” Just the thought of those long, elegant fingers inside of him had him squirming where he crouched.

“Only myself, but I dunno…” Jared trailed off and Jensen smiled encouragingly for him to continue. He did, through a ferocious blush,” I dunno if I was doing it right?”

“I’m sure you were Jare, I’m sure you were. But, how about this time I’ll just talk you all the way through it.” As he finished speaking, he gave Jared’s cock another encouraging stroke and felt it flex and throb before Jared came all over both of them.

“Oh god, oh god, I’m so sorry. I can’t, ugh…” Jared covered his red face with one giant hand as Jensen stroked him through his orgasm. Actually, he was pleased. Jared was nineteen and needed to take the edge off or Jensen would never get fucked the way his body demanded. Not this night, anyway. And he didn’t want to wait.

“So hot Jared, nice big load. Bet that felt amazing, huh? Well, now that you’ve taken the edge off, it’s gonna feel even more amazing when you’re inside me. You’ll be more sensitive but you can last longer and I think that you’re gonna wanna stay inside as long as you can. I know I already want that. Now, get your hand off your face and tell me where you keep the lube. Big cock like this needs a lot of lube when you jerk it, am I right?”

Hazel eyes peeked over the side of a pinky finger and met his own green ones. He waited as Jared took a few big, deep breaths and removed his hand totally, before he nodded and gestured at the bedside table.

“Keep it right at hand, huh? Never know when this big guy is gonna need some attention?” He asked absently as he sucked Jared’s come from the webbing of his fingers and reached for the lube with his dry hand.

“You too noodle legged to switch with me? I really wanna feel those long, graceful fingers inside me and it’s so much easier for you if you can see what you’re doing.” Jensen coaxed Jared to switch places with him, his cock swinging between his legs, clearly never intending to go totally soft. Jensen lay back and hooked his knee over his elbow to pull himself wide open for Jared’s appreciative gaze.

“You’ve got to use a lot of lube, it’ll be more fun for both of us that way. Get your fingers good and covered and just gently circle my rim.” He guided Jared through the motions, every word making him more and more eager. He instructed Jared to press one finger in and then a second, almost too quick.

“Am I- is this okay?” Jared asked, the timidity in his voice at odds with the fierce way he was thrusting and twisting his fingers inside Jensen.

He nodded his head and arched his back to change the angle of Jared’s fingers inside him. “Yeah, yeah, add a third for me baby, so close. Wanna feel that big cock.” He whined when Jared removed the two fingers before he came back with three and Jensen was ready to say forget the rest and get inside but words failed him when Jared’s long fingers twitched and nudged against his prostate.

Jensen’s dick was dribbling precome all over his belly, making it shine in the light. Jared was starting down at him with awe on his face. “Can you come like this? Just from me inside of you? I thought it was a myth.” He whispered making Jensen laugh.

“I can and I will. Cover your cock baby, I need it. I can’t take any more of your fingers I need that big cock, c’mon.” He urged.

Jared stumbled off the end of the bed, reaching for the wallet that was on the dresser, and Jensen writhed on the bed to entice him back quickly. They were both silent while Jared searched for a condom and rolled it on before he dove back onto the bed.

“You did such a good job, but I wanna ride you, okay? So you just lie down and hold your cock straight up for me.”As he lined up and sunk down, he knew it was not going to last long. He’d wanted it too long and it felt too good. He guided Jared to grip his hips tight as they rocked and rolled their hips together, the bed squeaking beneath them.

“Fuck I’m gonna-can I-” Jared started to ask, as his fingers went bruise tight on Jensen’s skin and he began to jackhammer his hips up into Jensen. It was exactly what Jensen needed to push himself over the top. He cupped his hand around the swollen head of his own dick and massaged the bundle of nerves under the head, prolonging his own orgasm even as he could feel Jared’s cock throb once again and fill the condom deep inside of him. Jensen slumped over Jared’s heaving chest.

They lay together in silence, trying to catch their breath for a few moments. Jensen felt Jared soften and slip out of his used ass. He shifted and grimaced, now that the moment was over the feeling of their sweaty skin grabbing and sticking together was not nearly as fun. He shifted off to the side and hitched his naked leg up over Jared’s waist as he gazed up at his handsome face and waited for him to say something.

“Thank you.” Jared breathed, sincerity in every pore of his body. Jensen burst out laughing, tears streamed from his eyes and he curled into a ball to clutch at stomach muscles.

“Is that not...I mean I didn't know what to say but…” Jared was so embarrassed his face began to turn red and he started to pull away from Jensen, but he couldn’t have that. He wrapped his sweaty, sated limbs around his embarrassed boy.

“No, stop. I’m flattered. I’ve never been thanked before. It’s great. This is great. We’re great. I really need to stop saying great.” He chuckled into Jared’s shoulder. He finally relaxed when he felt Jared’s arm come up and wrap around his back.

“So, we’re okay? This can… I mean we can keep… Like, I like you as more than a friend. I don’t know what I’m supposed to say.” Jared fumbled for words and Jensen was reminded of just how young Jared was.

“Look, we live together and we are contracted to work together for another six months. Am I interested in more of this? Of us? Yes. It’ll be whatever we want it to be. Let’s just keep it one day at a time. That sound good?”

“Yes chef.” They both froze, Jensen with one eyebrow up and Jared with another blush flashing across his face.

“I don’t know how I feel about being called Chef in bed. Let’s try it again and see.” Jensen rolled himself back on top of Jared and sunk his fingers into the sweaty, messy hair and slotted his mouth back over Jared’s.

“Yes, chef.”

\----------------------------------------------------------

Jensen vanished from the food show floor before Misha could confront him about the whereabouts of his intern. Luckily for him, he had another source of information, Chad was pretty easy to spot in the crowd, thanks to his terrible cologne and bleached blond frat-bag hairstyle. He marched over to him and without giving him a chance to speak, grabbed his bicep and dragged him towards a quiet corner.

“You’re friends with Jared outside of Network stuff. Where is he? Talk, Chad.” Misha folded his arms and tried to look intimidating even though both of them knew that he was nothing of the sort.

“Okay so look boss-man. I was sick of Jare whining about he wasn never gonna get into Jen’s pants so I took him out to a club and got him drunk and then we went to Cheers and I maybe kinda lost track of him and I thought I saw him leaving with some dude that it looked like he knew.” Chad rambled in that annoying, defensive way he had. Misha blinked at him, shifting  his weight from one foot to the other.

“Do I even need to list off all of the things that you just said that were totally wrong? Jared is only nineteen Chad!” Misha felt his blood pressure start to rise, it was times like this that he questioned why he ever hired Chad. “And you think you maybe saw him leaving with someone that he might have been familiar with? And now, Jensen showed up, did the presentation alone, and left immediately. You starting to see what I might be having a problem with? Let’s go. I’ll deal with you later.” He wrapped his hand around Chad’s bicep again and squeezed before tugging him hard. He was furious, but first, they had to find Jared.

“I have a spare key to Jared’s room, since the network paid for it, we will go get that and go to his room and we will go from there. So help me god, if something happened to Jared you will be in so much fucking trouble.” He growled.

After what felt like an eternity, he had Jared’s room key in one hand, and Chad’s ugly shirt in the other and he was dreading what he might find on the other side of the door. Out of courtesy, he knocked first and listened to what he thought was movement on the other side of the door. He had the keycard in his hand and was about to put it into the lock when the door was yanked open a little bit.

Jared stood in the crack of the open doorway. His chest was bare and sweaty, his hair was tousled like a giant halo, his cheeks were pink and he was loose limbed in that ‘just got laid’ kind of way.

“Uh, hey guys. Look I’m sorry that I missed the demo today, but I’ve already talked to Jensen and it’s all good with him.” He reached up and scratched at the back of his neck awkwardly.

“Jay man, you finally get some? That's fant-mmph!” Misha viciously slapped his hand over Chad’s mouth, not wanting to hear the rest of what could spill out of his idiotic assistant’s mouth.

“You spoke with Jensen?” Misha asked warily, eyes narrowing as he shifted his head and tried to look around Jared to see into his room.

“Uh, yeah. So, I know I have to explain some things to you too but can I do it later? And, can you not use that key if I close my door?” He glanced down at the key that was still in his hand and back up to Jared’s eyes. He couldn’t bring himself to say yes, yet.

“Who’s in the room with you Jared?” He heard himself ask the words but they were just as much of a surprise to him as they were to Jared and Chad.

“What? I dunno what-I mean there’s no one- look it’s not-” Misha watched dispassionately as Jared floundered, tugging the door closed even more as he did so. So Misha, being a curious sort, stuck his foot in the gap so that Jared couldn’t close it. Jared turned and looked over his shoulder and Misha could see, even from the side, that Jared’s eyes were wide.

His own went wide a second later when the door was tugged open and Jensen stood next to Jared, in a similarly sweaty and unclothed state.

“Look. Go. We were busy. I’ll tell you everything later. If you tell Dani, I’ll kill you before she kills me for you finding out first.” And with that, Jensen slammed the door in his face.

“Hah, so am I off the hook now?” Chad whined and Misha pinched the bridge of his nose.

===========================================

 

"This feels so naughty" Jared giggled as Jensen let him in the side door. The kissed in the dark hallway before Jensen gripped his hand and moved him along.

"It's been awhile since you were my employee, it's not that naughty." Jensen replied, peeking around a bend in the hallway before they scurried ahead.

"It's still a soundstage kitchen that belongs to Food Network. We are still letting ourselves in in the middle of the night. Frankly I was always kinda surprised they didn't shoot overnight stuff."

"Shut up, seriously. You wanna talk about this or you wanna live out a fantasy and fuck me across that stainless prep table?"

"Oh option two please, Chef.”

“You kinky little fucker.”

“Yeah, but you love this kinky little fucker.”

“...you’re right, I do. Love you Jay.”

“Love you too Chef Jen.”

 


End file.
